December 21, 2006
Chicago Chef Charlie Trotter to open new restaurant
Megan Bedford READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Charlie Trotter, an iconic chef whose name is synonymous with Chicago's gourmet cuisine, wants to dish out a second helping of his five-star meals.
Trotter, a Chicago native whose self-titled restaurant draws gourmands and members of the expense-account set, announced Wednesday he plans to open a second Chicago eatery in a new 60-story luxury hotel and condominium project.
"We're excited to deliver not just a stamped-out, high-end experience, but something that is really personal and something that has a genuineness about it," Trotter said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. "I can't wait."
Trotter, the author of a dozen books and host a PBS cooking show, has been a fixture in Chicago's culinary world for nearly two decades. While his dishes are known for their use of vegetables, Asian influences and French techniques, Trotter is infamous for his food-as-art presentation and serious philosophy on cuisine. (An introduction to one book quotes Goethe and Dostoyevsky.)
He's also a reputed perfectionist with a demanding kitchen presence. The New York Times once described Trotter as "a tyrant" and Chicago Magazine listed him as the second-meanest person in the city.
The as-yet-unnamed restaurant -- a fine-dining, dinner-only venue that will have a more casual dining area for breakfast, lunch and dinner -- is scheduled to open in October 2008 at The Elysian Hotel on the Gold Coast.
The chef's new restaurant marks Trotter's first Chicago dining expansion since he launched his signature restaurant in 1987.
Trotter opened a gourmet takeout shop in Chicago's Lincoln Park in 2000 and a seafood-focused restaurant in Los Cabos, Mexico in 2004. Trotter and a real estate developer scrapped plans to start a restaurant in the New York City's Time Warner Center last year after the budget grew to nearly $12 million.
"Charlie's a lot more than a chef," said David Pisor, CEO of Elysian Worldwide. "He understands the experience of dining and how to make it more than just food."
Bespectacled, boyish and immaculately dressed, the 47-year-old hunches forward when he speaks about his latest venture. The menu has yet to be announced, but Trotter said it will draw "ideology" from his current restaurant.
"I'm elated with the idea of taking on a challenge to do something here in my own back yard, but do it differently and do it in a way where it really is new and it's exciting, but it still borrows the great elements of what all great experiences," he said.
Trotter also will be responsible for room service and banquet fare at the $260 million Gold Coast hotel.
"There have been no shortage of opportunities around America and around the world, and in my own back yard, but this is the one," Trotter said. "I've seen my colleagues over the years take on too many things. And that's fine, but you want to make sure that you have the energy and the wherewithal to do anything you do the absolute right way and that's why we feel so strongly about this."
The Elysian will have 188 rooms and 51 condominiums with units listing from $480,000 to $6 million.
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Megan Bedford is a freelance food, drink, and travel writer. At a young age her mother told her, "food is love," and she took it to heart. She invites your comments at: [email protected].
