Charlie Trotter - Found Dead in his Lincoln Park Home (Chicago: luxury, live in)

[TBideon]

Anyone familiar with the industry knows the man was scum and treated his employees awfully. Such wasted talent.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by TBideon

Anyone familiar with the industry knows the man was scum and treated his employees awfully. Such wasted talent.

That would explain awards choosen by fellow chefs like Humanitarian of the Year, Fine Dining Hall of Fame, Court of Master Sommeliers


Awards - Charlie Trotter's

[Chicago87]

I attended Lincoln Park High School and was invited to have dinner at his restaurant just down the street on Armitage for free.

I think that was the fanciest meal I had to date. I can afford Alinea nowadays on special occasions, but I just can't justify the $400 - $500 bill without the wine paring. Dinner + wine paring + the expected 30%+ tip will total over $1,000 per person!

[Jesse69]

I never heard of him, but I looked at these pics: http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune...otter-history/

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Jesse69

I never heard of him

A fitting bookend to your fast-food fetish.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by chet everett

That would explain awards choosen by fellow chefs like Humanitarian of the Year, Fine Dining Hall of Fame, Court of Master Sommeliers

I know nothing about Trotter but I put little stock in such awards; I think the people who hand out such awards don't give a damn how a person treats his employees. Andrew Carnegie had Pinkertons shoot his employees like dogs yet his honored by the elites and their lackeys as a great and generous man. Employees fit no more into many modern people's sense of right and wrong than the serfs did to a 13th Century nobleman's.

[koctail]

Originally Posted by Chicago87

I attended Lincoln Park High School and was invited to have dinner at his restaurant just down the street on Armitage for free.

I think that was the fanciest meal I had to date. I can afford Alinea nowadays on special occasions, but I just can't justify the $400 - $500 bill without the wine paring. Dinner + wine paring + the expected 30%+ tip will total over $1,000 per person!

What kind of people pay their months rent on one meal??? No wonder this guy is so "eccentric", look at the out of touch with reality kind of people he has to please...

[marothisu]

I have heard Trotter was one of those who did treat people like crap sometimes and others like gold. Grant Achatz only studied under him for either a few weeks or a few months because he felt Trotter was too hard/mean. On the flip side, I have heard stories of him being the nicest guy ever to both people he both did and didn't know.

[williepotatoes]

A little too much being made about his supposed wicked cruelties. Anyone who worked for him had to know his rep going in. There are drill sergeants and ball-busting football coach type people in all walks of life. Judging from the national outpouring we are seeing for the man, from people who admired him and people who worked for him, I think I'll let them paint the picture.

After years of having gun-toting gangbangers held up as our national image, you'd think that we'd welcome the fact that we had someone who was so highly regarded and so influential outside of our city.

[Isotope-C14]

Originally Posted by koctail

What kind of people pay their months rent on one meal??? No wonder this guy is so "eccentric", look at the out of touch with reality kind of people he has to please...

For some people, a frighteningly number incidentally, that's not even close to a months rent, it's more like 1/4000th a months rent. I comment to people regarding Mitt Romney, as a guy that has never impacted society in any truly positive way, aside for fuel for comics, and shipping jobs to the third world, as a guy that makes in a day, more than I've ever made in a year (365 days), for corporate piracy and wearing magical underwear.

But you can always tell academia to give the cardiac/cancer researchers a raise. Guess what, we all leave and go find jobs that have a salary that is commensurate with skill level/intelligence/IQ take your pick... That's another thread entirely. I can't even *get* a job doing science, one interview in 7 months, without knowing people directly involved with the lab, even with 15 years experience. Go figure. That again, another thread...

One of the *HUGE* things trotter did, at least in Chicago, was appeal to the high-end wine market. His list had the 1945 Mouton (I wouldn't say no to drink one, but I'm sure it's as tired as most of the really old bordeaux I've had ... Except 1970), Chateau d' Y'quem, Gaja's and all kinds of stuff wine snobs just drool over on the wine list...

Not all of them were huge foodies specifically prior to him setting up shop, but he had one of the most exquisite wine lists of any Chicago based restaurant. They all went into foodie overdrive after being there.

And then he paired them overpriced but delicious gems with the right food.

And then those people who didn't want to spend a couple K on dinner/wine started talking about how great some of the other restaurants were in Chicago. This was a domino effect. Chicago became a bastion of fine food and dining. I'm glad for it. I can actually get breathtaking food at 90 Miles (OMG OXTAIL), Jibek Jolu, Davanti's Enoteca, and countless other fantastic restaurants.

Still, some of them are BYOB. What madness is this?!?!?

Some may complain about Charlie, but he *really* did put Chicago on the foodie map. And it's still cheap to dine here, much to my belly's chagrin...