Richard C. wrote: >Is Charlie Trotter's one of Chicago's top 10 restaurants or should I suggest >somewhere else? <Disclaimer> I've been waiting for a long time to hype Trotter's and this post (above) has caused me to shed all inhibitions and babble at length about this great restaurant. Hit <n> now if you wish to avoid this. --------------------------------------------------------------------- As far as I'm concerned, Trotter's is one of the finest restaurant in America (though I admit my sample size is pretty small). There are 5 essential things that a great restaurant must provide, in order: I. Food a) taste (of course!) b) presentation II. [Good] Wine List III. Service (to what extent does one have to perform tasks aside from eating? I.e., pouring wine, asking more than once for anything - although a truly professional wait[person] can anticipate most needs) a) enthusiam, cordiality, friendliness, professionalism, attentiveness IV Price - are you getting what you pay for? V. Ambience and setting My SO and I ate at Trotter's last December 18 and sadly, it spoiled us for any other "fine" restaurant that we've eaten at since. It is the yardstick by which we now measure restaurants - and nothing since has even come close. We called for reservations two weeks before we planned on going and were told that reservations 4-6 weeks in advance were more appropriate. Fortunately we were called back and given a reservation when they received a cancellation. We arrived and had a quick apertif while our table was prepared; 5 minutes at the most. Trotter's is tastefully and elegantly furnished; nothing to jar the senses. We were taken to the second floor and seated near the balcony overlooking the first floor and were greeted by our waitress. Trotter's offers two basic degustations; vegetarian @ $55/ea, and the "Grand" for $75/ea. But they also offer to close the menu and let the chefs prepare a "custom" meal - 10 courses for $85 per person. We took this latter choice. After looking at the wine list, I chose an '87 Grgich Hills Fume Blanc, and an '88 Paul Jaboulet-Aine Hermitage (La Chapelle). My only problem with Trotter's reared itself - for the Grgich Hills they wanted $40 and for the Hermitage, $75. The Grgich Hills retails for around $16, and the Hermitage for around $30-$35 (or did then). A pretty typical markup on wine, sad, but true. For a truly excellent wine list and *very* reasonable prices in Chicago, check out the Italian Village; we drank an '83 Chateau Beaucastle and paid $34 for it. One of the best wines we've ever had. Here are our 10 courses: Le Menu: 1) Organic Idaho potato and duck confit terrine 2) Smoked salmon tartare, osetra caviar, citrus-marinated hand harvested sea scallops 3) Peppered and seared raw yellowfin tuna with a salad of daikon and jacima, soy wasabe & spicy yogurt 4) Chilean sea bass with braised turnips, ginger broth 5) New York foie gras, butternut squash, bacon and sweet corn, mustard-sauterned reduction (served with a glass of Chateau Rieussacs Sauternes - 1989 vintage) 6) Fennel-broth poached Maine salmon with lobster potatoes and a red wine chicken broth 7) Wood-grilled Millbrook venison with spaghetti squash, hedgehog mushrooms & thyme essence 8) Italian panna cotta vanilla custard with oven-dried papaya & bananas. 9) Warm, bittersweet chocolate cake with liquid center, spearmint, espresso and pistacio glaces. 10) Mignardises The staff was totally professional, the service was impeccable. Dishes were removed smoothly, often without our awareness, wine was poured, fresh silver was provided for each course. The food tasted like nothing we've ever had before - stunning. Presentation was elegant and well-done. Report Card: I. Food: A+ II. Wine List A- (a fine, but small selection. It's good now; it will be *great* in a few more years.) III. Service: A+ (we were treated as honored guests..) IV. Price: C+ (wine prices don't need to be this high; the food prices could be cheaper as well..) V. Ambience (setting): A Overall score: A Total Cost (including tip) : $400 Recommendations: Everyone should experience this at least once.. if you can afford this luxury, don't hesitate.. BTW, there is also a table that can be reserved in the kitchen.. Alright, I've droned on enough..all opinions expressed above are my own; your mileage will vary. regards, -mm
Chicago, IL
Chicago's best
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM. References: Nntp-Posting-Host: falstaff.watson.ibm.com Organization: IBM T. J. Watson Research Lines: 53 >Richard C. wrote: >>Is Charlie Trotter's one of Chicago's top 10 restaurants or should I suggest >>somewhere else? > Martin M. wrote: > ........excellent discussion of Charlie Trotter's deleted ....... > >Report Card: > >I. Food: A+ > >II. Wine List A- (a fine, but small selection. It's good now; it will > be *great* in a few more years.) > >III. Service: A+ (we were treated as honored guests..) > >IV. Price: C+ (wine prices don't need to be this high; the food > prices could be cheaper as well..) > >V. Ambience (setting): A > >Overall score: A >Total Cost (including tip) : $400 >Recommendations: Everyone should experience this at least once.. >if you can afford this luxury, don't hesitate.. > I agree almost entirely with the above analysis. I had heard a lot about Charlie Trotter's, so when my husband and I were in Chicago we decided to try it, and invite my brother along. My first thought about the menu was that it looked very gimmicky, but I am happy to report that I was totally wrong. The only thing I ended up not liking were the lamb's tongues in a foie gras pate. The menu degustation was large, and had at least two choices for each course. Between the three of us, we tried just about everything on the menu. And then came the dessert... it was awesome. I don't know how many they brought out but I seem to remember it was about five large desserts for the three of us. Wow! One comment on the wine list: we did not know that many wines on it, but we asked the sommelier for a recommendation (giving him type and price range) and he recommended and wonderful Oregon wine that we would never have thought of ordering ourselves. That is exactly how a wine service should work in a restaurant. So my conclusion is the same: if you can afford it, but all means try it out! /C [email removed]