Charlie Trotter (September 8, 1959 – November 5, 2013) was an American chef and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

. His best-known restaurant, Charlie Trotter's, was open in

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from 1987 to 2012.

Early life and education

Trotter was born in Wilmette, Illinois and graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He attended

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from 1977 to 1979, and then transferred to

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. Trotter started cooking professionally in 1982 after earning a

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bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from UW–Madison.

Career

For five years after college, he worked and studied in Chicago, San Francisco (at the California Culinary Academy), Florida and Europe. He opened his first restaurant in Chicago with his father, Bob Trotter, as his partner. Trotter was the host of the 1999 PBS cooking show ''The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter,'' in which he details his recipes and cooking techniques. He likened cooking to an improvisational jazz session in that as two riffs will never be the same, so too with food. He also wrote 14 cookbooks and three management books, and promoted a line of organic and all-natural gourmet foods distributed nationally. Trotter was involved with his philanthropic ''Charlie Trotter Culinary Education Foundation'' and other causes. He was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year award in 2005 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. He invited groups of public high school students into his restaurant as part of his Excellence Program two to three times per week: after eating a meal, the students were told how the food was prepared and the motivations of those preparing it. Trotter also was unusual among

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

s for his outspokenness in matters of ethics, most famously when he took

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off the menu in 2002 for ethical reasons. However, Trotter refused to be associated with the animal rights group Farm Sanctuary stating, "These people are idiots. Understand my position: I have nothing to do with a group like that. I think they're pathetic. … me of their tactics are crude and uncivilized even." Trotter made a cameo appearance in the 1997 film '' My Best Friend's Wedding'', screaming at an assistant, "I will kill your whole family if you don't get this right! I need this perfect!" a parody of a stereotypical screaming angry chef.

Restaurants

* ''Charlie Trotter's'' restaurant in Chicago opened in 1987. It was named as the 30th- best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine, and 5th-best in the United States in 2007. In 2010 Charlie Trotter's was one of three restaurants in Chicago to be awarded two stars by the

Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...

. In the following year's Michelin Guide, the restaurant again was rated with two stars. On December 31, 2011, Trotter announced that the restaurant would close in August 2012, citing a desire to travel and to pursue a master's degree. * Trotter also owned ''Trotter's To Go'' at 1337 W. Fullerton, a high-end

delicatessen A delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany (contemporary spelling: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th centur ...

and catering store in Lincoln Park, Chicago. This closed in July 2012. * In 2008, Trotter opened his second namesake restaurant in Las Vegas known as ''Restaurant Charlie''. The restaurant garnered extraordinary praise from critics and received the

One Star award in 2009. The restaurant also received the 2009 James Beard Award for "Best New Restaurant". Within the restaurant was a smaller, private bar known as ''Bar Charlie'' in which diners were seated overlooking the kitchen preparation and received a hands-on experience. It closed in March 2010. * In 2004, Trotter opened ''C'', a seafood restaurant in

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, Mexico. It closed in November 2008. * Trotter had planned to open a restaurant in New York City in a new building being built at One Madison Park, but a foreclosure crisis prevented it. *In 2014, Trotter's son, Dylan, and Trotter’s mother, Dona-Lee Trotter, announced that the nonprofit Trotter Project would open in the original Charlie Trotter's restaurant space on Armitage Avenue. Though the buildings had been put on the market after the restaurant closed in 2012, they were taken off the market. As of 2024, the project's stated mission is: "The Trotter Project nourishes dreams, transforms lives and empowers communities through food, education, and community initiatives".

Lawsuits

Trotter was the subject of a number of lawsuits. In 2003 he was the subject of two

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuits pertaining to the compensation of his employees and alleged violations of labor law, both front-of-the-house (service) and back-of-the-house (cooks). The first, filed by former waiter Kurt Sorensen, alleges that rather than receiving the tips they collected, waiters were paid from a restaurant-wide pool, and their share was significantly lower than the amount they had collected, in violation of

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

law. This suit was settled out of court. The second, filed September 17, 2003 by former cook Beverly Kim, alleged that cooks were required to work unpaid overtime. This suit was settled in 2005, resulting in a liability of almost $700,000, though of this only about $300,000 was paid out, as many eligible former employees returned their share. On June 13, 2013, Trotter was sued by brothers and wine collectors Bekim and Ilir Frrokaj, who accused him of selling them a

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

bottle of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti for $46,000; Trotter denied any wrongdoing.

Personal life

Trotter married his first wife, Lisa Ehrlich, on August 31, 1986. They met in 1981 at

. Lisa helped open the restaurant and served as its first dining room manager and wine director until the couple divorced in August 1990. Trotter's second marriage, to Lynn Thomas, produced a son, Dylan, born on May 24, 1991 (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's 50th birthday), who was 22 years old at the time of his father's death. In February 2010, Trotter married girlfriend Rochelle Smith, who later became his

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

. A feature-length documentary about his life, titled '' Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter'', was released in the United States in 2021, and later in Britain.

Death and legacy

On November 5, 2013, Trotter's son Dylan found him unresponsive in their Lincoln Park home. Trotter was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead as a result of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. Former understudy Graham Elliot called Trotter a "mentor, trailblazer, philosopher, artist, teacher ndleader." Charlie Trotter's spirit of mentorship continues via The Trotter Project, a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

charitable organization created by family, co-workers and friends including Homaro Cantu, Trotter's mother Dona-Lee, sister Anne, brothers Scott and Tom, and his son Dylan.

Published works

* ''Charlie Trotter's'' 1994 * ''Charlie Trotter's Vegetables'' 1996 * ''Charlie Trotter's Seafood'' 1997 * ''Gourmet Cooking for Dummies'' 1997 * ''Charlie Trotter's Desserts'' 1998 * ''The Kitchen Sessions With Charlie Trotter'' 1999 * ''Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home'' 2000 * ''Charlie Trotter's Meat and Game'' 2001 * ''Workin' More Kitchen Sessions With Charlie Trotter'' 2004 * ''Homecooking with Charlie Trotter'' 2009 ;Coauthored * Clarke, Paul and Charlie Trotter. ''Lessons in Excellence from Charlie Trotter'' 1999 * Lawler, Edmund and Charlie Trotter. ''Lessons in Service from Charlie Trotter'' 2001 * Trotter, Charlie and Roxanne Klein. ''Raw'' 2003 * Trotter, Wareing, Hill and Hall. ''Knife Skills in the Kitchen'' 2008

Awards and honors

* Culinary Hall of Fame The Best Restaurant in the World for Wine and Food, 1998 The Grand Award, 1993 – 2012 Wine Enthusiast America’s Best Wine-Driven Restaurants, 2006 International Food Manufacturers Association Silver Plate Award Winner, 2008 Gold Plate Award Winner, 2008 The James Beard Foundation Best Food Photography, Meat & Game, 2003 Outstanding Service, 2002 Outstanding Restaurant, 2000 Best National Television Cooking Show for "The Kitchen Sessions, with Charlie Trotter," 2000 Best Food Photography, Desserts, 1999 Outstanding Chef Award, 1999 Who's Who in Food & Beverage Award, 1996 Outstanding Wine Service, 1993 Best Chef, Midwest, 1992 Humanitarian of The Year 2012 Nation's Restaurant News 50 Power Players 2000 Fine Dining Hall of Fame (elected by peers), 1991 Chicago Tribune Four Stars (highest rating) Crain's Chicago Business Four Forks (highest rating)

References

External links

*
Interview with Charlie Trotter

Charlie Trotter in His Prime: A Feature From September 1997
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trotter, Charlie 1959 births 2013 deaths Chefs from Chicago American male chefs American restaurateurs Businesspeople from Chicago California Culinary Academy alumni Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants James Beard Foundation Award winners New Trier High School alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Writers from Chicago 20th-century American businesspeople