Charlie Trotter RIP

NBC 5 is reporting that Charlie Trotter has died. No details yet other than he was found dead in his home. Love him or hate him, he had a profound effect on the Chicago and worldwide dining scene. RIP Charlie.

The Tribune is also reporting the same thing.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Ch ... 80701.html

Charlie Trotter had a profound effect on my cooking and appreciating of fine dining. One of my greatest memories was being a "guest chef" for a day at his restaurant. This is a very sad day.

The Tribune story has a very nice collection of photos.

However CT passed, I suppose this was his way of trying to tip the balance of his legacy towards his cooking and away from his recent spate of bizarre behavior.

Very sad. No matter how weird he had gotten over the last couple of years, his influence has been profound. Having met him a few times when eating in the kitchen at his restaurant, he could be a task master and at the same time a great customer service person. My home cooking was greatly influenced by him, his books and his TV show Kitchen Sessions.

One thing will always stand out for me. About 10-12 years ago, when Kitchen Sessions was in production, I was eating at the kitchen table. I called him aside for a moment and asked him about a small pot that he used a lot in the show to create sauces, where he would finish them with a hand-held blender. The pot was tall and thin, so there was no splashing during the blending. I asked him what kind of pot it was because I hadn't been able to find one like it for my own use. He didn't say a word but held up his index finger as if saying "wait a moment" and disappeared into the studio kitchen next door. A minute later he appeared with the pot and gave it to me. The retail value of the pot was about the same as I was paying for the dinner at the time. It was a magnanimous gesture and I still use the pot today.

John Danza wrote: One thing will always stand out for me. About 10-12 years ago, when Kitchen Sessions was in production, I was eating at the kitchen table. I called him aside for a moment and asked him about a small pot that he used a lot in the show to create sauces, where he would finish them with a hand-held blender. The pot was tall and thin, so there was no splashing during the blending. I asked him what kind of pot it was because I hadn't been able to find one like it for my own use. He didn't say a word but held up his index finger as if saying "wait a moment" and disappeared into the studio kitchen next door. A minute later he appeared with the pot and gave it to me. The retail value of the pot was about the same as I was paying for the dinner at the time. It was a magnanimous gesture and I still use the pot today.

I'm betting there a lot of these stories out there and I truly hope that more come forward with them because there's already a disgusting amount of nastiness spewing forth from the various commenters and posters on line. Revolting. The thing I hate most about Internet communication.

RIP Charlie--I've always thought you were awesome. My two visits to Trotter's (a class I took with a friend and a night at the kitchen table) were completely unforgettable and not because of the food. You were truly one of the most interesting people I've even had the pleasure of meeting.

He loved vegetables. He wanted you to love vegetables. His commitment to urban kids before it was cool is still one of the best things about him.

This news disturbed me far more than I thought.

I will never forget one of those moments when I first felt like an adult was taking my mum for dinner. My mother called my father back in South Carolina after the meal and told him all about the meal. I later discovered he was sharing this story with everyone beaming with pride at how grown up and kind his 'little girl" had become so far away from home.

pairs4life wrote:This news disturbed me far more than I thought.

Yes.

A really sad day,

I worked as guest chef for a day many years ago. It was an incredible experience and opened my eyes to ingredients and attention to detail. Spending two hours with Reggie, the stock master was unforgettable and working the evening on the wood fired grill was exhausting. (The grill man never used tongs or gloves)

One of my son's is now a sous chef in the best loca restaurant. When was a young line cook he took his with to Trotter's and was offered a tour of the kitchen. When meeting Charlie, he mentioned my experience and how that inspired him to enter the cooking profession. The check for the evening was a card and copy of Trotter's newest book; yes, he comped the meal.

For years, I told friend to mention my name at Trotters and they would likely get a free meal, after all it had worked every single time...

We shared the University of Wisconsin, and he will remain in my memory for a long time.

Tim

RIP Charlie Trotter.
We don't have the "wherewithall" to do true fine dining very often, but I will never forget the one time Frank surprised me by taking me to Charlie Trotters for a BD dinner.
The.Best.Dinner.Ever.
It was so amazing, as I sat down, they handed me a menu, and written across the top was Happy Birthday, Elaine!
I just cried. It was such a special moment.
Each course better than the next.
Wine, food, service, everything was wonderful.
This was a few years back before we were "LTHer's".
I didn't see Mr. Trotter, don't know if he was in the house, but it was a magical evening for me.
I've always told Frank- "don't even tell me what it cost- I don't want to know."
I am so saddened by this news today- just as he was going to take time to slow down and have fun.
I wonder what the the whole story will be?
All I know is one BD night a few years back he and his staff made me very happy.
May his loved ones find blessing in many memories of him and his work.

pairs4life wrote:He loved vegetables. He wanted you to love vegetables. His commitment to urban kids before it was cool is still one of the best things about him.

This news disturbed me far more than I thought.

I will never forget one of those moments when I first felt like an adult was taking my mum for dinner. My mother called my father back in South Carolina after the meal and told him all about the meal. I later discovered he was sharing this story with everyone beaming with pride at how grown up and kind his 'little girl" had become so far away from home.

Amen.

i guess one of the "upsides" to all this is that his contributions to both Chicago and the culinary world will get some focus, at least for a little while.

that said, if anyone has a menu (both Grand and Veg) from 8/7/12, please let me know... we didn't get one for our meal and it drives me crazy to this day.

Here, in two parts, is a nice and funny interview with Charlie Trotter from a couple of years ago (part 1 and part 2).

You can see that he knew his repuation but was also able to laugh at himself. In part 1, he talks about his first job being peanut-shell sweeper at the Ground Round in the Plaza del Lago in Wilmette, and working at the James Tavern in Northbrook Court.

I would have liked to eat at his restaurant just once in my life, and I would have liked to meet him.

pairs4life wrote:This news disturbed me far more than I thought.

Totally stunned me!

I took my husband there for his birthday when we first started dating. We were early 20s and just getting into food and wine. He had already been to a couple of fine dining restaurants but it was my first rodeo. I remember wearing a cheesy cocktail dress. We clearly were newbies but they didn't treat us like it. We wanted a bottle of white and I told our server to surprise us - they came back with a $27 bottle of Selbach Oster Riesling. He could have totally fleeced us but didn't. I can't believe they even had a $27 bottle of anything on their menu. I remember every course and the outstanding service. He even signed the menu for us and was in the lobby when we left. That experience really made me appreciate food and what it could be.

Just read a great tribute piece written nearly a year ago by Homaro Cantu

http://homarocantu.blogspot.com/2012/12/did-i-ever-tell-you-best-part-about.html

The Kitchen Chemistry Sessions name was in part tribute to Charlie's Trotters - 'The Kitchen Sessions'.

Here is another nice Charlie Trotter interview; this one with a very young interviewer.

When I saw this, I mistakenly thought it was an old thread about his restaurant closing in 2012. Just stunned. In 1989, after eating at Charlie Trotters the first time, I went from really, really liking food, to becoming obsessed with it. I finally used a guest chef certificate I owned for nearly 20 years the last week the restaurant was open. Charlie was gracious as always.
Thank you, Charlie, and may you Rest in Peace.

I was really sorry to see this news item this morning. Remarkable chef. 54 is too young to be gone.

I remember when some years ago I ate at Trotters with my wife. She had the vegetable menu which was absolutely perfect. I had the excellent chef's menu, and I mentioned to the waitress after I finished a fish dish that it had been a little overcooked for my taste (not enough to send back, but enough to mention). The menu continued, and as well were leaving Charlie came up to us with a collection of his cookbooks (signed) as an apology.

He kept himself to the same high standards that he kept his employees.

Jean Blanchet, Grant Achatz, and Charlie Trotter are the chefs who created Chicago as a global culinary destination.

sazerac wrote::( Just read a great tribute piece written nearly a year ago by Homaro Cantu

http://homarocantu.blogspot.com/2012/12/did-i-ever-tell-you-best-part-about.html

The Kitchen Chemistry Sessions name was in part tribute to Charlie's Trotters - 'The Kitchen Sessions'.

This is a whale of a piece I am so grateful for you pointing out. It has the energy of a '90s Outside Magazine article and the same transportative effect. I am somewhat afraid that stories like this are going to be missed entirely in the coverage of the next week. This is just beautifully emoted and paced:

Charlie would say, "More caviar! No we can't charge them for more, we just do it! That's what we do, the right thing. Anything less would not be enough, anything more and it would be too much." It made complete sense. Don't ever skimp on the good stuff. A complete departure from my life growing up. I was in the right place. I was encouraged to taste every tin of caviar. Crazy.

If that's not how it was, I'll choose not to believe any other way.

I always thought Trotter was a visionary in a specific Chicago way. A little like Frank Lloyd Wright for food. It's hard to believe in a world of pork fat and hops and baroque burgers at fancy restaurants that Trotter grabbed the world of dining by the lapels by making everyone grow the hell up and pay attention to subtle flavors, painstaking technique, an Asian reverence for vegetables, and restraint. His reputation for generosity was equal to his reputation for being an asshole and equally well earned. The immediate reaction from chefs and the press is remarkable and appropriate. History will be good to him.

Some years ago, my ex wife and I tipped over our change jar (literally), netted about $400, and decided go to Trotter's for our first anniversary. Neither of us had dined in a place even remotely similar and I still remember it as the most revelatory meal of my life. My wife got the vegetable menu - which I initially thought was a missed opportunity - and it turned out to be the highlight of the night. Who knew a vegetarian menu could outshine one featuring quail and lamb and whatever else was on there? My experience there inspired me to up the ante on my restaurant explorations, and while I've had tons of great meals since, Charlie and his establishment will hold a permanent place in my heart for showing me how far someone can raise the bar on the dining experience. This is very sad.

I was, ironically, somewhat news blacked-out when I heard the news. I was in a cell phone store getting my new phone set up, so I was cut off from media contact - no phone, no email, no TV, etc. - when one of the clerks behind the counter suddenly mumbled, "mblf bdbfd Charlie Trotter?"

Not expecting to hear his name there and then, I asked him what he said, half expecting the answer I got, and he repeated: "Charlie Trotter died?"

"Who is Charlie Trotter?" asked one of the other staffers.

So I was in a rare, perhaps daunting, perhaps enviable position to explain to some folks who had never so much as heard Charlie Trotter's name before why he was important and why his death was news, even if (like me) they had never even considered dining at his restaurant. It was a strange experience.

Here is Charlie Trotter's obituary in the New York Times.

The Tribune story mentions how he had been living with an incurable brain aneurysm, a "time bomb" so to say. I can only imagine what it must be like to live with something like that.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 4072.story

In case you don't have time to read the entire Tribune article, I loved the last paragraph, a quote from Yusho Chef, Matthias Merges:

It makes me want to buckle down and drive further. That's the quintessential Trotter ethos. In adversity you buckle down, your tenacity doubles, your focus becomes more laser like. You just push harder to keep yourself and your team out of mediocrity. That's one of the biggest things to take away from Charlie Trotter.

Hi- It was mentioned on channel 5 last night, that Sneed from the Sun Times has found out that he died from a stroke. Apparently he flew to NYC earlier this year, and suffered a mild stroke after he came back, and was told to avoid flying, and high altitudes. He flew to Jackson Hole this week for some sort of cooking event, and did not feel well when he returned.
Here is the link to the column.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/2358 ... troke.html

Seemed like certain food writers (like Jeff Ruby, who caught a lot of flack about it from other Chicago writers on Twitter) wanted to frame his death as part of a downward arc of his life's work– "Shakespearean" as Ruby puts it. Turns out it was just bad luck, though there are reports that doctors warned him about flying before he took the trip.

His wife is seeking to debunk the idea that he should not have flown, and the autopsy reports have been apparently inconclusive

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 2106.story