Charlie Trotter
Charlie Trotter
Charles "Charlie" Trotterwas an American chef and restaurateur...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChef
Date of Birth8 September 1959
CityWilmette, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Charlie Trotter quotes about
art school college
I wasnt using college as a stepping stone to law school or some other career. I just wanted a liberal-arts education.
philosophy heart generosity
Fernand Point's philosophy instilled what cuisine is all about: generosity and hugeness of heart.
mean get-money making-money
I’m all about making money. It’s the greatest thing, because it means you get money to spend.
critical willing
You have to be critical of what you do every day, to analyze it and be willing to push it further.
crazy sleep night
I have always looked at it this way: If you strive like crazy for perfection - an all-out assault on total perfection - at the very least you will hit a high level of excellence, and then you might be able to sleep at night. To accomplish something truly significant, excellence has to become a life plan.
food together cuisine
A jazz musician can improvise based on his knowledge of music. He understands how things go together. For a chef, once you have that basis, that's when cuisine is truly exciting.
quarter running time
A quarter century of running a restaurant - that's a long time to do one thing.
casual changed concept design elements exciting originally remove
I didn't want to remove some of the exciting design elements to make it work. And then the concept changed to something a little more casual than we originally planned.
budget continued dollar energy finally forward looking pay spent trying
We were all looking forward to this and we spent a lot of energy in trying to do this, ... But as the budget continued to escalate, we just finally said, 'Do we really want to pay off an 11-1/2, 12-million dollar restaurant?'
failing faltering
I love faltering. I love, in a sense, coming up short. Because you learn nothing from success. You learn so much from failing.
fighting interesting excellence
Excellence is about fighting and pursuing something diligently, with a strict and determined approach to doing it right. It's okay if there are flaws in the process - it makes it more interesting.
thinking guarantees-that opposites
Well, I kind of think that the opposite is true. The customer is rarely right. And that is why you must seize the control of the circumstance and dominate every last detail: to guarantee that they're going to have a far better time than they ever would have had if they tried to control it themselves.
generous-spirit fundraising chef
Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit.
art cooking intimate
The art of cooking is among the most intimate things that we can do for another.