NNTP-Posting-Date: 27 Aug 2001 10:17:16 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:11071 Mark A. wrote: > > I'm actually considering taking someone to Charlie Trotters > for dinner and not having ever been there, I'm unsure about > what to expect. I heard they have some kind of fixed price > like $100 or $125 per plate and it's definitely formal > attire. I also heard there are very few choices on the menu, > you basically get what Charlie puts together that night. > I just have a few questions: Well, it's not "formal," if you think (as I do) that formal means black tie. But it's certainly not casual. A dark suit, or the female equivalent, is probably the right thing. This is not a fun mean... this is very serious business. The last time I was there, which was a bit ago, there were three choices... namely the vegetarian degustation, the regular degustation, and the red wine degustation. I think they were all about the same price.... As to what they're offering just now, check out their web site... I'm fairly sure they have one. No, it won't have a menu, but it may have some price ranges. > Is the food different every night and if so how can > I know ahead of time what's on the menu? The person > I'll be with can be/is extremely picky. You can't know what you're going to get. It's different daily, although there are certainly repeats. They will ask if there are allergies, or things that you don't like... and they'll work around them... which is part of why nobody gets quite the same thing as anyone else. But if your guest is generally fussy, this is NOT the place you want to take them.... The whole point is to taste things. It's NOT a huge filling meal... it's nine or ten tiny little dishes... so you really have to concentrate on what you're eating, or you'll miss it. And many of the dishes have multiple parts, and sauces, and so on. It's very, very intense. Or, if you're really a meat-and-potatoes eater, it's probably shockingly horrible. But I'm not. If you are, don't go. If your guest is, don't take them... they'll HATE it. > If the dinner is a fixed price then does that include > the tip? If not, what is customary for that? Tip is NOT included. At this level of service, a 20% tip is quite usual. > How much is a typical good bottle of wine? It's a very long list... probably starting from as little as $40 or so, and going up to over infinity. But what I suggest you do, if you're up for it, is to have wines paired with the degustations. This will probably add $60 or so to the price, per person. And you'll taste several wines, and they will be at least good. Unless your guest is a wine person... if so, the list is quite long... and I'd expect that $60 to $80 is a good range. If you owe your friend a really expensive bottle, however, it's there. > How far in advance do I need to make reservations? > Can I choose a good table or are all tables OK? More than a month, if you want a specific date. Otherwise, call and ask what's left. Six months exactly, if you want the kitchen table. > Can I choose a good table or are all tables OK? I doubt if you can... but it's a pretty plain, simple room. I wouldn't say that any one table was better than another. The point is, there are no distractions... you're there for the food... not decoration or something. You're not there to be seen or to see. You're there to taste. > When you make a reservation typically how long is the > wait and do they have a waiting lounge? There will probably be no wait. There is a very tiny lounge area, if you need it (I sat there once, waiting for my wife, who was late, rather than sit at the table without her). If I am remembering right, I drank a glass of champagne while waiting. > How long does dinner typically last? Plan for the entire evening. I'd guess that you'll be eating for 3 hours or so, but that's just a guess. Unless, of course, you need to stop at Burger King afterwards, because it's not really a lot of food, just surprisingly good. So it's not necessary to starve yourself in advance.... > What are the best nights to go? No idea. Probably it doesn't matter. > Does Charlie Trotter really cook there every night? He probably doesn't cook at all, at this point. But he's often there... you'll see him peering out from the kitchen. Trotter isn't a friendly glad-handing chef... he probably won't come out and ask you if you liked it. But he's there, and he's in charge.... AND YOU VILL EAT VHAT HE VANTS YOU TO EAT! Personally, I'd rather go to Tru, which is friendlier, and isn't quite so stuffily intense, although nearly so. But there's nothing else quite like Trotter's. And certainly every foodie should experience it.
Chicago, IL
Charlie Trotters
NNTP-Posting-Date: 27 Aug 2001 20:53:59 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:11076 Mark A. wrote: > > Richard S. wrote: > > >You can't know what you're going to get. It's different daily, although > >there are certainly repeats. They will ask if there are allergies, or > >things that you don't like... and they'll work around them... which is > >part of why nobody gets quite the same thing as anyone else. But if > >your guest is generally fussy, this is NOT the place you want to take > >them.... > > Uh oh. When I mentioned this place I was asked "what kind of food > do they serve?" with the expected answer being some sort of > cultural name like Thai, Italian, French, etc. I had no idea. > After visiting their web site, I still have no idea how to > answer that question. Perhaps the correct answer is "fine cuisine" > but that would imply French, no? > > >Or, if you're really a meat-and-potatoes eater, it's probably shockingly > >horrible. But I'm not. If you are, don't go. If your guest is, don't > >take them... they'll HATE it. > > She's a very picky picker. The eating lots of little things slow > will actually be a good thing. I'm sure a lot of dishes will get > pooh poohed along the way which means more for me. > > >Tip is NOT included. At this level of service, a 20% tip is quite > >usual. > > The web site doesn't mention this. Thanks. > > >But what I suggest you do, if you're up > >for it, is to have wines paired with the degustations. This will > >probably add $60 or so to the price, per person. > > I couldn't find this option on their site but this seems ideal. > > >Personally, I'd rather go to Tru, which is friendlier, and isn't quite > >so stuffily intense, although nearly so. But there's nothing else quite > >like Trotter's. And certainly every foodie should experience it. > > What and where is Tru? > > Thanks for the info. i recently went to both tru and charlie trotter's and if you like, i can send you copies of the reviews i posted to www.chicagoreader.com. for my money, i liked tru better also. tru is another fine dining restaurant located at 676 n. st clair in chicago--chefs are the tramontos--husband and wife. http://www.lettuceentertainyou.com/restaurants/rest_home.jsp?id=28 briefly, trotter's has lovely food but fewer choices and a glacial pace. tru has four degustation menus (trotter's had two the night we went) plus some prix fixe options so that your picky eater can choose what she likes. i'm not sure if she can get the prix fixe while you get a degustation--ask when you call for reservations if that's important. tru calls itself progressive french cuisine and i'd say that covers trotter's as well. hope you have a memorable evening, whichever you choose. lisa, not gonna throw ambria into the mix, but it is more romantic if that's important to you
NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 01:39:43 CDT Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:11081 Someone wrote: > i recently went to both tru and charlie trotter's and if you like, i can > send you copies of the reviews i posted to www.chicagoreader.com. for > my money, i liked tru better also. tru is another fine dining > restaurant located at 676 n. st clair in chicago--chefs are the > tramontos--husband and wife. Here are Lisa's 8/17/01 (and others') reviews: Charlie Trotter's: http://www.chicagoreader.com/cgi-bin/rrr/comments.cgi?numb=820 Tru: http://www.chicagoreader.com/cgi-bin/rrr/comments.cgi?numb=1469 Cheers, Daniel Lewart [email removed]
NNTP-Posting-Date: 29 Aug 2001 07:15:20 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:11084 Mark A. wrote, in response to my comments re Trotter: > > Uh oh. When I mentioned this place I was asked "what kind of food > do they serve?" with the expected answer being some sort of > cultural name like Thai, Italian, French, etc. I had no idea. > After visiting their web site, I still have no idea how to > answer that question. Perhaps the correct answer is "fine cuisine" > but that would imply French, no? The answer I'd use is "What ever Charlie feels like today." Or, to make it more generic, it's "chef food" in that you get whatever the chef wants. It has nothing to do with French, or Oriental, or American... or it has to do with all of them, because the chef has studied, and he's using ideas from everywhere. But it's not from somewhere, and the only thing it has to be authentic to is the chef's mind. > >Or, if you're really a meat-and-potatoes eater, it's probably shockingly > >horrible. But I'm not. If you are, don't go. If your guest is, don't > >take them... they'll HATE it. > > She's a very picky picker. The eating lots of little things slow > will actually be a good thing. I'm sure a lot of dishes will get > pooh poohed along the way which means more for me. > > >Tip is NOT included. At this level of service, a 20% tip is quite > >usual. > > The web site doesn't mention this. Thanks. > > >But what I suggest you do, if you're up > >for it, is to have wines paired with the degustations. This will > >probably add $60 or so to the price, per person. > > I couldn't find this option on their site but this seems ideal. > > >Personally, I'd rather go to Tru, which is friendlier, and isn't quite > >so stuffily intense, although nearly so. But there's nothing else quite > >like Trotter's. And certainly every foodie should experience it. > > What and where is Tru? Tru is a similar, but somewhat less serious restaurant. You'll find details at http://www.trurestaurant.com/ and in the posts from several others with pretty decent comments. Tru is similar, but somewhat less serious, then Charlie Trotter's. It's close in price... but since it's in the Lettuce Entertain You chain, you get frequent dining points. Note that the Tru web site gives some samples of tasting menu items... not that those are on the menu today, but they are an example of the kind of thing that these degustation menus contain. So you can look... or ask the picky eater... and decide if this is the right sort of thing, or a horror to run away from. As for a picky eater, I'm not sure there's anything to do. If she (we've figured out that it's a she, now) is the kind of person who has to know what they're eating, this kind of food may well not be of interest. Perhaps a nice steak, or one of the city's very fine French or Italian restaurants, would be a better choice. You can spend nearly as much, especially if you and she like nice wine.... Top-of-the-list alternatives: The Dining Room (at the Ritz-Carlton). Spiaggia. Everest. Ambria. Seasons (at the Four Seasons). The second-string is too long to mention... Chicago is a very fine place to eat.
For a great vegetarian degustation menu, I would also recommend Zealous. You can tell that Michael Taus enjoys putting together creative vegetarian choices. Regards, Kathy Grzybek
NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 15:50:59 +0000 (UTC) Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:11123 K.M. -. wrote: > For a great vegetarian degustation menu, I would also recommend Zealous. > You can tell that Michael Taus enjoys putting together creative vegetarian > choices. Creative yes, delicious, I am not sure :) We ate there and had terrible service and not very good food. We found the combinations ambitious but not harmonious. We also were made to feel quite second-rate because we weren't getting the 4 or 5 course chef's special, but ordered a la carte.
NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 16:44:35 CDT X-SessionID: [email removed] X-Hash-Info: post-filter,v:1.4 X-Hash: e7808946 e10e4e93 6e4d752e df6274f4 5944f10e Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 16:38:42 -0500 Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:11092 I guess I'm in the distinct minority here, but I think that Trotter's is vastly overrated. Although the food is good (but not all dishes are excellent), the portions are extremely tiny, so you basically get one mouthful of highly decorated viants. I went there for a friend's 40th birthday and, after dropping about $450 for the two of us, WAS STILL HUNGRY when I went home. The food and wine are way overpriced, and the atmosphere is stuffy. I am not a novice at eating at such places, having spent over a year in France eating in all sorts of restaurants, from the humblest bistro to the best five-star restaturants. Trotter's does not rate even close to places like the Troisgros in Roanne or the now-defunct Robuchon in Paris. Those places not only served uniformly sublime food, but they GAVE YOU ENOUGH TO EAT! There is an atmosphere of friendliness and generosity in the best French restaurants which is simply lacking at Trotter's which feels pinched and niggardly. (Exception was the previous wine steward, Larry Stone, who was great, but who has moved on. I haven't found many who share this opinion, but I noted with satisfaction that the Gault-Millaut Chicago guide said several years ago that Trotter's was overrated. If I wanted to spend $450 on food, I'd go have three or four meals in restaurants rated a tad lower. As A. R. Liebling said. "Anyone who like food likes a lot of food." (He died of overeating).