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/

[Jenise]

Kind of a shame (since I hadn't eaten there yet ). But the dining world is fickle, and if you you're not new you're "staid". I wish him the best!

This is a surprise, but not shocking. My own view is that Charlie Trotter's has been treading water in a culinary sense for a decade or more. The same could also be said of Rick Bayless's Topolobampo and Frontera Grill, but they occupy a less populated niche of Chicago dining. Alinea certainly eclipsed Charlie Trotter's a while ago, but even before that Tru (run by another Trotter's alum) had stolen a lot of its thunder. Much of what he pioneered (tasting menus, carefully sourced ingredients) have become so ubiquitous and commonplace that he's no longer even associated with them.

Mark Lipton

I retain exceptionally fond memories of the times I dined there in the heyday. Exciting, dynamic and hugely creative. But the place was on such a grand scale and, with the things Mark just cited, it was bound to fall in on itself eventually.

And , boy, did Charlie rock the culinary scene of Chicago. Not the same afterwards.

[Jenise]

True story, and I hope I didn't tell this before: a Chicagoan who used to be a regular here once emailed me about a "situation". He and his wife and youngest son had just moved from the burbs into downtown Chicago, and he was super excited about all the restaurants, neighborhood shopping, and so forth. Anyway so his son was in this new school and Howard went to a parents night by himself and got to talking to another guy who was also there stag. Cooking was a relatively new hobby and passion for our friend, and apparently he shared that with the other dad who said he too loved to cook and was passionate about food--maybe they could get together sometime for dinner. Our friend thought that sounded good and since the other dad was divorced it turned out, our friend invited him over for dinner with his family. Only after the other guy accepted they exchanged names did it become apparent that the other dad was Charlie Trotter. Our friend wasn't exactly paralyzed with fear but pretty close to it!

It's like telling ghost stories around the campfire. Yikes!

Urk!

My fave and oft-told was the time when a member of our wine group called and asked if "a friend" could come to the tasting I was hosting. Well, sure.

I was also cooking that night. The friend turned out to be Dean Fearing, one of my culinary gods then. Turned out he was from Kentucky and he loved bean dishes.....and had two huuuuge helpings, heaping platefuls of my grub that night, making encouraging noises the whole time. whew.

I doubt this has much to do with it, but he jammed in regard to the foie gras issue in Chicago and came across as a wuss. That would stand to lose him a certain amount of respect, I'd think.

True story, and I hope I didn't tell this before: a Chicagoan who used to be a regular here once emailed me about a "situation". He and his wife and youngest son had just moved from the burbs into downtown Chicago, and he was super excited about all the restaurants, neighborhood shopping, and so forth. Anyway so his son was in this new school and Howard went to a parents night by himself and got to talking to another guy who was also there stag. Cooking was a relatively new hobby and passion for our friend, and apparently he shared that with the other dad who said he too loved to cook and was passionate about food--maybe they could get together sometime for dinner. Our friend thought that sounded good and since the other dad was divorced it turned out, our friend invited him over for dinner with his family. Only after the other guy accepted they exchanged names did it become apparent that the other dad was Charlie Trotter. Our friend wasn't exactly paralyzed with fear but pretty close to it!

Oh I would have been literally and completely paralyzed with fear.