Charlie Trotters

The Five Best Restaurants in the U.S.

Filed under: Dining

Luxist readers nominated the restaurants that they believe to be the best and most luxurious restaurants in the country. From Napa Valley and Las Vegas to Chicago and New York, here are their top five favorite places (in alphabetical order):

Charlie Trotter's (Chicago)
While most top chefs boast degrees from the traditional powerhouses of the culinary world, Charlie Trotter is an exception. The chef of the Chicago restaurant that bears his name never had a former education in the world of food---but that hasn't stopped him from turning his eatery into a Luxist nominee in the best domestic fine dining category.

Charlie Trotter became a foodie in college after learning a few cooking tips from his roommate. Fascinated by the culinary arts, he took a year off from earning his degree in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus to read every book he could, including a ton of tomes on cooking. After graduation, he went into the catering business, eventually deciding that he wanted to run his own restaurant.

Tags: awards-main, best restaurants, best restaurants in the u.s., Charlie Trotters, four seasons, luxist-awards, Masa, Restaurant Guy Savoy, The French Laundry

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Charlie Trotter's: Innovative Cuisine in the Windy City

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Chef Charlie Trotter at Charlie Trotter's

While most top chefs boast degrees from the traditional powerhouses of the culinary world, Charlie Trotter is an exception. The chef of the Chicago restaurant that bears his name never had a former education in the world of food---but that hasn't stopped him from turning his eatery into a Luxist nominee in the best domestic fine dining category.

Charlie Trotter became a foodie in college after learning a few cooking tips from his roommate. Fascinated by the culinary arts, he took a year off from earning his degree in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus to read every book he could, including a ton of tomes on cooking. After graduation, he went into the catering business, eventually deciding that he wanted to run his own restaurant.

Gallery: Charlie Trotter's

Tags: awards-main, Best Domestic Restaurant, Charlie Trotter, Charlie Trotters, luxist-awards, Trotters to Go

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Charlie Trotter Closes Las Vegas Restaurant

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Las Vegas is losing one of its celebrity chef restaurants. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Charlie Trotter has closed his two-year-old Restaurant Charlie in the Palazzo Las Vegas. Trotter, who is a Chicago institution, won his first Michelin star at his seafood-centered Las Vegas restaurant. The sushi bar inside the restaurant, Bar Charlie, was selected as one of the nation's best sushi spots by Bon Appetit last year. Alas, the numbers just weren't working for the Las Vegas restaurant. The Chicago Sun-Times quotes Trotter's wife and spokeswoman, Rochelle Smith Trotter, who said that they lowered prices three times and tried a pre-theater menu . She makes a mention of the "level of clientele that seemed to be the frequent guest that Las Vegas is now seeing" a reference to the fact that the high-spending tourists seem to be in short supply in Las Vegas lately.

Trotter's Las Vegas restaurant offered a Grand Tasting Menu for $175 (with a $100 wine accompaniment). Items on the menu included Muscovy duck breast with Thai basil and Yuba, Elysian Fields lamb loin with cumin, smoked ricotta and buckwheat, Peekytoe crab salad with sake and rice milk and Nantucket bay scallops with guava and macadamia nuts.

Trotter is still hoping to open a restaurant in New York. It had been announced that it would be at One Madison Park but it may end up being at another New York property. He is also looking at other options and continues to delight dinners at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago.

Tags: charlie trotter, charlie trotters, las vegas nevada, palazzo las vegas, PalazzoChupi, restaurant charlie, restaurant closings, restaurant closures

The World's Most Expensive Tasting Menus

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Tasting menu's don't come cheap, but the range of flavors and the chance to experience more of the chef's repertoire is worth it for many. Some of the best restaurants in the world have gone to serving nothing but tasting menus, Charlie Trotter's in Chicago for example, and others simply offer them as a luxury for those who can afford it and want something a little different. So where to go if you're really looking to drop some cash and enjoy the great tastes of the best tasting menus? Well the single most expensive tasting menu in the world belongs to L'Arpege in Paris and runs $466, with the second and third most expensive also going to restaurants in Paris: Alain Ducasse Plaza Athenee ($437), and Guy Savoy ($402). Masa, in NYC, comes in at 4th with their tasting menu priced at $400 for 25 courses.

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