Charlie Trotter's closing in Chicago

[Robin Garr]

This came as a surprise to me at first, but after reading the article, I wonder ... with so many hot newer places, was Trotter's already yesterday's news?

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/ ... n-chicago/

All great restaurants have a finite amount of time that they can exist. Le Cirque and Lutece comes to mind in NYC and more recently El Bulli in Spain, even though El Bulli went out somewhere near the top they were beginning to become out paced by the younger generation, many of which they'd had a hand in training; like Rene Redzepi at NOMA.

I can think of only a few other restaurants from the 80's that are of that caliber that have continued to stay relevant. Le Bernadin in NYC that had the fortune of hiring Eric Ripert who took the reins after Guy Le Coze's death in '94 and Topolobampo in Chicago which has benefited from Rick Bayless' reinventions, expansions, and all around awesomeness.

Keller didn't take over the French Laundry until '94 and in comparison to some of the newer restaurants his staple dishes (salmon cornet & oysters and pearls), albeit spectacular are becoming somewhat dated.

This all being said I've read most of Charlie Trotter's books and am very much inspired by his drive and ambition. I hope I can make a pilgrimage before they close the doors.

In all my years in Chicago I never got (or took) the opportunity to dine at Trotter's, though I knew a few people who worked there and ate at Trotter's to Go on a regular basis. I think it's pretty inspiring that after all these years of running one of the country's finest restaurants,Trotter's planning on going back to graduate school.

I would think that Charlie is ready to be in the top lists again. I worked in Chicago restaurants( front of the house) when he opened, had several friends and work associates who worked for him. He is a brilliant chef, but even a better marketer. What a better way to have a massive amount of PR in the last 8 months of your run, with completely full houses, lots of press and everyone with bated breath wondering what his next restaurant move would be. Man hasn't lost his touch!

I was lucky enough to have dined at the chef's table on a night when Chef was in the kitchen. Saw none of the referenced "temper", but did see a quiet insistence on perfection...to the point where he was unhappy with the way the server was pouring my soup into the bowl over the other ingredients, stopped him, and poured it himself to show him what he wanted. It was incredible attention to detail. Many years later, Tom and I had our 1st anniversary dinner at his (now closed) Vegas restaurant. It was nice to see that the attention to detail had transferred - the server noticed that I was shivering a bit in my dress (turned out I was starting to come down with something) and brought a clean chef's coat out for me to put over my shoulders. Of course the food was amazing - both times - but it was all the other little touches that made it memorable....and worth the price tag. Kudos to him for not letting things go downhill and quitting while he's ahead. And of course - as noted earlier - nice way to ensure that he's nothing but a tough ticket until he closes.