Charlie Trotter's

SUMMARY: Wow, I had one of my best dining experiences ever, at one of the best restaurants in Chicago, if not the country. I agree with past Yelp reviews that you should go here to enjoy the whole culinary experience, not just to fulfill your hunger. In a way you enjoy paintings at an art gallery, you could come here to appreciate creativity & passion Charlie Trotter expresses through food and wine. $145/person price for meat course was justified, when you consider what it took to provide first class service and have 10 chefs in the kitchen making first class dishes using the finest ingredients.

Note that this restaurant prides itself on spontaneity, so my review is applicable for early June 2006, but don't be surprised if they changed up on your future visit.

DETAILED VERSION:

MENU: As I opened their two page menu, there was vegetarian course on the left for $125 and meat/seafood course for $145. While it may look like lack of choices, waiter explained that you could pick and mix the dishes of the two courses. Contrast to their simple food menu, their wine menu (more like a book), was quite extensive and included selections from small wineries.

DECOR: With trees in front of this Lincoln Park restaurant, you may pass by here without realizing there is a premier restaurant here, although valet parking guy in the front is a hint ($10 plus tip). You walk into a bar area, which is really a staging area where they get your coat and make sure all members of your party is there. Then they guide you through the first floor dining area. Our seats were upstairs, so we were directed upstairs where there were two more rooms. My initial feeling as I was walking through here was, 'country club atmosphere.' Interesting enough, after the meal, it felt more like someone's home. Zagat rated Trotter's decor lower than food and service, probably because this restaurants, which looks like it used to be a house, is not very spacious like many other luxury restaurants inside hotels.

SERVICE: Service was top class starting with our main waiter to the 'food expert' that explained in detail each stage of the course. Everyone, including the guy who takes the plates away, dressed in a nice suit. Fork and knife was replaced after each dish and I never saw the bottom of my wine glass.

FOOD: The portion size of each dish was no so big, but by the time we finished the course, I was quite full. The course is set up so that intensity of flavor increases though out the stages. Food quality was excellent; moreover, the presentation and the colors were very extertaining. I won't get into details of the dishes for two reasons: (1) They change their menu weekly, (2) I cannot begin to describe all details the food expert told us. One thing I can say is that I tried Squab for the first time. It was good, but I would only trust Charlie Trotter to cook me a pigeon.

TOUR: After the meal, we were offered a tour of the restaurant starting from their kitchen. I was first surprised to see there were over ten people in the kitchen, which explained the high price to enjoy first class food. It was late at night, so chefs had time to explain what was going on in each section. We then went to their two wine cellars, red and white, in the basement. Our guide explained that Charlie Trotter was friends with many of the best California wine makers thus acquired some hard to get bottles.

BEST SEATS: No doubt, the best table in the restaurant is the kitchen table (probably seats 6 or 7). Our waiter told us that if we called and told them that we've dined here before, he could reserve the kitchen table for us. The second best was the special events dining room with a large table and two CCTVs showing the live feed of the kitchen.

I went in with all the accolades in my head for years: one of the best restaurants in Chicago, the country, and the world. Sometimes that hype creates expectations so high that I leave disappointed. Of course it wasn't a bad meal by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't anything that special for me.

Cost to worth it rating: 2 (not counting French Laundry, most expensive meal I've had at $350/person including gratuity and wine pairing. Other meals for almost the half the price were better)

Highlights:
- Francisco: 5+ stars! He was our favorite part of our dining experience here by a mile. While other staff members at times made us feel second rate and not deserving of excellent service--possibly due to our age or apparent status--Francisco seemed to notice and went out of his way to pick up the slack and made us feel welcome and attended to. While talking to the hub, I mentioned I really liked this pinot and a few minutes later, Francisco magically appears to pour me a bit more, saying he knew I liked this wine. That is the high level of impressive experience I expected to encounter across the board.
- Kitchen tour: A few parties were being taken into the kitchen, while we just left our table unnoticed. Francisco caught us on the way out and asked if we'd like to see the kitchen AND the wine cellar. "HECK yeah!" thought my foodie wine self. :-D This turned into the best part of our dining experience. The kitchen was huge and the entire staff was amazing allowing us into their space and enthusiastically greeting us. Francisco showed us around, pointing out each station, etc. The wine cellar downstairs was wonderful as well, with a U-shaped room rack full of bottles, one being 35k. The hub got to ask the question we always wanted to: do you get insurance on those things? Yes is the answer for those we who were curious. 8-)
- Wine: liked the pairings (especially the pinot and shiraz) however at this level, I would have appreciated more descriptions about them besides the basic producer and varietal.
- Non-alcoholic beverage pairing: first time I've seen this one and it's a selection of unique juices.
- Customization: it's a set tasting menu, but they are more than happy to accommodate any allergies or even dislikes. I dug that they were flexible and not adverse to changes. I don't care for lamb, but wouldn't have said anything unless our waiter had graciously left the door open to the possibility of change. The hub doesn't eat seafood and they didn't just give him a bunch of veggies--they substituted with chicken and steak which were more up his alley.
- Cuisine: being a rather traditional spot, I was surprised to encounter not just classic, but a few more interesting dishes with the chef dabbling in Japanese flavors like eel.
- Plating: attractive from the oyster in it's shell above a mound of salt to the thin small slices of sashimi propped looking like shark fins to the arc of sauce drizzling on top of morel mushrooms along the way ending by the slices of beef. Pics: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/gk3pMjUlX29nLECzIiOfWg?select=xE75XmzYNGL-U1bTSVAm5Q and http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/gk3pMjUlX29nLECzIiOfWg?select=XlOmpdIjJ85ldRFVg1BnOg
- Silverware: first time I've seen standing up knives, instead of being laid on their side, they were designed for the blade to be parallel to the side walls. Pic: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/gk3pMjUlX29nLECzIiOfWg?select=5mIwxpRbS7X7YKmecox-Tg

Lowlights:
- Atmosphere: meant to be classic, but a bit grandparent's home for me from the chairs to the show platewear.
- Desserts: none were fabulous, however I appreciated them giving the hub and I different dishes increasing our sampling size.
- OMG factor (or lack thereof): besides being in the kitchen (for the historical purposes given the stature of the restaurant and chef), no part of the meal or dining experience whole excited me... and I can get awfully giddy about great food.
- Service included: tips are discrenciary for a reason--the consumer gets to decide how much they want to contribute based on their level of datisfaction, but that is taken away here. No matter how you rate their service, there's an automatic addition. Come on, people. This isn't a big group of teens at TGIFridays that may stiff the server--this is a fine dining establishment where patrons know enough to tip based on their proficiency.
- No OpenTable points: you can reserve on OpenTable (one of my favorite sites ever), but they don't give you points for dining there. I know it's a popular restaurant but this is lame. All restaurants should give you credit for dining there.

It's been on my list for years, so I'm glad I finally visited, but on my next trip to Chicago I'll probably try another establishment. Unless Trotter fills the restaurant with a bunch of Francisco-esque staff... then I'd be back. 8-)

I liked it, really I did. It's very very good food. But $700 good? To be fair, it's likely there's no food on earth that's $700 good, so perhaps I shouldn't be giving a review, or shouldn't have gone in the first place. But we did, and I don't regret it, but I certainly wouldn't do it again.

The service is outstanding, exactly what you'd expect. Really above and beyond what you'd see anywhere else. The food was good. We had the grand tasting, which was about 8 or 9 courses. To be honest, the only one that stood out was the meat course. Everything else was good, but not "OMG what is in my mouth" good. It was sort of heavy on dessert, with 3 sweet courses. We also had the wine pairings, which were probably the most reasonably priced thing on the menu, for what you get. They weren't stingy with the pours at all, and if you finished you glass before the course was over they gave you a refill, which is awesome.

In the end, my experience didn't make me think poorly of Charlie Trotters, per se, but it did make me reconsider the super-high-end restaurant concept altogether.

Its been a few weeks since I had the pleasure of dining here.

They promised to edit our menu and mail me a copy to accommodate our changed items.(Just recd menu dated 3/2, on 3/23!)

Everything was beautiful. The server was cool, and the staff attentive.

Two dishes we hated and they gladly replaced with new courses that more suited our desires. The candies, awesome, the deserts - divine. The Wine accompaniments were perfect too.

The photo i put is my menu, what a great dinner. Seriously.

Came here for free with my HS Concert Choir. I think it's a charity thing that Charlie Trotter's does with Public Schools. MAN it was such a legit experience. I still think about the amazing 12-courses...it's been a WHILE since that, though.

Have never had anything quite as fantastical. You can taste the excellent blend of flavors in each bite of every course, and all the dishes are carefully arranged and look beautiful. Portion sizes are just right so you can eat it and crave it, but move on to the next meal.

Will go back when I have money...or feel like throwing some away...

Pro's: Top Notch Service And Food!!
Culinary Artistry At Its Best!

Con's: The feeling you have after devouring the piece of "Food Art" that is
neatly presented in front of you. : (

FOB Review: "OH MAI GAAS! i peel liyke i jes sfent mai hole kar fayment on
dis poods..!"..."butt, en mai onest ofinion et wus wel wurt
et".."Tanks u mr . trotter"

See profile site for full review with formatted pics.


Going into my meal at Charlie Trotter's I can honestly say I didn't know what to expect. As I was meeting a friend I hadn't seen in some time I certainly expected a good time, but despite Trotter being one of the most celebrated American Chefs of all time it seems as though many recent reviews have not been as wowed with the landmark restaurant in the same way as they are by Iconic restaurants like TFL or Jean-Georges, or even the local temples of Molecular Gastronomy like Alinea or Avenues. Additionally, after having the most fantastic meal of my life at Alex in Vegas earlier this year I certainly didn't want to go in with expectations too high and end up diappointed. Oh wait, did I say Alex was the most fantastic meal of my life.......make that second most fantastic....

Course two of the evening consisted of Maine Day Boat Lobster with Beets, Chestnut, and Bull's Blood and although each dish that followed was spectacular, this was without a doubt my favorite of the savories. A perfectly butter poached lobster claw lied trisected on the plate interspersed with thinly sliced chestnuts, fine diced bulls blood beets, yellow beet juice, vanilla saffron cream, and heirloom red beet reduction. Somewhat salty, mostly sweet, light and fresh in every way - quite possibly the best lobster dish yet to grace my palate and certainly as good as the blue lobster at Alex and Ducasse's famous Lobster Au Curry....simply breathtaking.

Course three was another winner and possibly the most "complex" of the evening's dishes - Poached Pennsylvania Duck Egg with Perigord Black Truffle, Torpedo Onion, Parsley. A 14 hour poached Duck Egg was served next to a Vidalia Onion chip and literally covered with shaved Black Truffle and a reduction of torpedo onion with a drizzle of parsley broth. Multiple textures, multiple flavors, both potent and subtle with basenotes of taste from the onion and topnotes of aroma provided by the truffle - a true masterpiece of composition.

Honey Crisp Apples with Cider Granite and Ginger Jelly was an apple served in no less than 5 different ways - from flash fried over a sweetened semifreddo to an unadourned finely chopped slice over a spicey bread pudding, and finally a pairing of spicey icey cider granite and a ginger jelly compote - a true work of art and amongst the best desserts I've ever experienced....yet not even the best dessert of the meal....

Black Mission Figs with Shaved Fruit Cake, Marcona Almonds, Pedro Ximenez, Proscuitto, and Bacon Fat - possibly the single most impressive combination of unexpected flavors yet to grace my palate. Essentially the dish was a piece of nutty fruit cake topped with Raw Cows Milk Icecream, chopped almonds, fresh figs, and a slice of Proscuitto that was then topped tableside with a reduction of sherry and bacon fat. Sweet, savory, crunchy, spongey.....nearly indescribable.....possibly perfection.

After completing this phenomenal dish our server arrived to ask us if there was anything else they could do for us. Jokingly I suggested another half-dozen servings of the dessert and much to our surprise we were met with the response - "well, I think we could do another one." When I stated I was joking she quickly quipped "I'm not" and disappeared with a smile, returning less than 10 minutes later with another more substantial portion of the figs and fruit cake concoction. Along with this dish we were served a tray of 5 mignardises - a passionfruit jelly, a hazelnut "nutella cup," an "after eight" mint, a cranberry nut nougat, and an incredibly creamy caramel - and the bill.

With the bill settled we prepared for our departure and as a final treat were offered a tour of the kitchen, the display kitchen, and the wine cellar as well as complimentary copies of the menu as take home souvenirs. All throughout the tour the staff, from server to chef to dishwasher, was notably smiling and working in flawlessly clean and gorgeous surroundings. Nothing appeared overly stuffy, nothing extremely pretentious, everything simply gracious and wonderful.

Without overstating I can absolutely say that my trip to Charlie Trotter's on 12/30/08 was the best overall dining experience of my life and although not every dish was "perfect," the meal was as close to perfection as one should ever expect. Flawless service, immaculate presentation, progressive flavors and wonderful innovation.....when is Michelin coming to Chicago so Trotter can get the same respect as that lavished on Keller and others?

3 stars for this legendary establishment? Say it ain't so!

So.

Extraodinarily expensive but pay attention class: Know this going in (which I did)! Tiny portions, too, but you get so many different courses that you won't leave hungry. It's not a problem.

The food ranged from "This is pretty good" to "This is extremely good." The desserts, in particular, were excellent. The wines which were paired with the meal (you can get the ordinary pairing or the super-duper deluxe pairing--I got the ordinary) were good but not great. For these prices, everything should be great.

The service was very good but not superlative. I want to feel like a champion at a place like this. I thought the 50 servers who visited my table were friendly enough but too robotic and impersonal. Lighten up, gang. Don't be afraid to show just a hint of personality or charisma.

Charlie himself schmoozed with the folks at the table next to ours, so we get our celebrity sighting in that way. Plus, you get to tour the kitchen--make sure you ask if you aren't asked. That was a nice highlight.

The decor--well, I didn't find it anything special. I saw folks in jeans, too. At a place that requires jackets? And you wear jeans? Oh my. How about a bolo tie to go with them Wranglers?

I really, really wanted to love this place. But I didn't. The French Laundry in Yountville (Napa) beats Charlie's to a pulp. Sorry guys.

We were at CT's to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. Everyone said happy birthday to him when we walked in, so that was very nice. We went with the Grand Menu and the non-alcoholic beverage menu, and was pleasantly surprised with the dishes that we were presented.

My favorite dish was Copper River King Salmon with Sweet Potato, Horseradish & Myoga. I love salmon, and I have never had something like that before. A bite of the slightly seared salmon (smoked with hickory wood somehow too) was heaven, and I made sure that I remember this moment, this taste, as I will probably never have it again in my life. The next dish Muscovy Duck with Smoked Coconut, Spring Onion and Venezuelan Chocolate was equally amazing, and my husband wrote this immediately after:

This beautiful mouth full of more than beauty - ...the world slips away, a beach dissolved in a warm breeze with waves of analog static lapping against the edges of my mind, slowly pulling me into the sweet delicious and savory sea...as long as the morsel lasts, then one more bite...

and again...

There were some comments on Yelp saying there wasn't enough food, so I just want to throw in my two cents. Both my husband and I felt really satisfied (I was pretty full) after we ate all the 8 dishes, all the drinks, some of the bread, plus the coffee (him) or tea (me). Unless you are a really big eater, I don't think there will be a problem fulfilling your appetite.

Went here for my birthday dinner last night and had a great experience although I expected that given all the reviews on YELP.

Trotters is located at Armitage and Halsted in a building that used to be 2 townhomes that they removed the wall between to create this interesting space. While there have been reviews that call the interior stark- I found it to be warm and almost "homelike".

From a service standpoint- this place is amazing! From Christian who greeted us as the door to the team of Sally and Nick who waited on us, everything was impeccable. A point of humor in the evening was as we were toasting my birthday- the servers showed up with the next course and they were "horrified" that they had interrupted such a special moment. I thought it was funny but they retreated so fast that I didn't have a chance to tell them it was okay.

The only service flaw was that there was at least a half an hour wait between two of the courses. I don't know what the problem was but we were getting a little restless at that point and since the wine that they were refilling my glass with was not one of my favorites- it just made it seem longer.

The tasting menus included a wide variety of items. We chose the "grand" menu which was good- but I wish our server had offered us the option of swapping out those courses that we didn't think we would like with something from the vegetarian side. Ask if you go as there were a couple of things I might have made a change on had I had the chance.

I had the complete wine flight with my dinner ($100) while my dining partner took the vegetable and fruit juice selections ($45) My recco is go for the wine as the juices were bizarre. One was a seaweed and mushroom juice concoction that smelled and tasted like dirt! Of course they swapped it out when we mentioned it- but there really wasn't a winner among them.

We did take the kitchen tour which was nice and even nicer- when I mentioned that my dining partner liked to cook- they presented him with three books from Charlie himself along with a bottle of Trotter's organic ginger soy sauce.

Given that the bill was over $600 for two of us- I know we won't be going there every day. But for a special occasion, it was a memorable night.