PopConsumer: Thanks for the Memories, Charlie Trotter

I seem to have sprang forth fully formed as a foodie, unlike anyone else in my family. While earning my cooking badge in girl scouts I gravitated toward fancy desserts like baked Alaska and something from Scandinavia perhaps, the recipe found in a set of cookbooks my mother had - maybe The Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery.

For a youthful birthday or perhaps elementary or middle school graduation, I requested dinner at a popular restaurant for my celebration. Possibly the long closed Lehr's Greenhouse which, were it open today, would not be considered fancy by any stretch of the imagination except to a child's. My childhood memories of becoming a budding foodie are fuzzy now.

My fancy tastes continued to evolve. When I turned 21 I gave myself two gifts: first, a pair of black Charles Jourdan pumps. At the time they were the equivalent of what Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik would become after Sex and the City. The second gift was a reservation at Spago. Looking back, how I made that happen short of sheer foodie will escapes me. My love of fine dining has followed me throughout my adulthood.

Later I attended graduate school in Chicago. One night my classmate Nancy invited me and another student in our program to join her and her successful businessman father for dinner at Charlie Trotter's restaurant. The choice of meals was either a Prix Fixe with meat or a vegetable tasting. As I was a vegetarian at the time I went with the vegetable menu. It was one of the most mind-blowing experiences I'd ever had.

Mr. Trotter is particularly virtuosic with vegetables. A plate arrives bearing what looks like a cross section of slab bacon, but it’s really a terrine of three separate beet purées — red, golden and chioggia — that have been set in a mold and then sauced with another purée, of horseradish and roasted parsnips: a root-crop tour of the five taste sensations. A porridge of amaranth is enlivened with green cardamom, toasted pistachios and a slice of raw persimmon: a dish at once vaguely South Asian and satisfyingly Moosewood-y. Charlie Trotter’s offers a more traditional grand menu, but it’s the vegetable menu — an ever-changing, never-boring meatless dégustation — that is his crowning culinary achievement.

“Alice Waters may have discovered vegetables, but Trotter was the first man I know who cooked them beautifully,” said Alan Richman, the longtime restaurant critic for GQ.

I remember my friend's father ordered a bottle of Conundrum White wine for his daughter and her friends. Years of ordering at business dinners he hosted had taught him much even though he did not drink himself. I've had Conundrum White with other meals since then and I've always enjoyed it.

The second time I ate at Charlie Trotter's I brought my friend Carla from business school and his mother was our gracious hostess, moving from table to table, introducing herself and ensuring we were enjoying our meal. During one of our stops she leaned in and told us that "the Riedels" were dining at another table. At the end of our evening she offered to give us a tour of the kitchen and the space next door to the dining room where Chef Trotter filmed his TV show.

My third and final trip to Charlie Trotter's was to introduce my friend and enthusiastic vegan, Elisa Camahort Page, to the famed vegetable menu. They graciously custom made the meal vegan for Elisa. After re-enacting the highlights from So You Think You Can Dance which Elisa had missed while traveling, we spent the night before BlogHer '07 at Charlie Trotter's dining along with my friend, Kryss from my days working at Kraft foods.

The restaurant clearly had seen its heyday at that point. Unlike the packed houses I encountered on my previous visits, this night the restaurant was nearly empty. Trotter closed his namesake restaurant for good last year in 2012.

Charlie Trotter died suddenly today. He was only 54 years old. He had a reputation as a tyrant but as a fan of his food and patron of his restaurant I know him only through the vivid memories (indelible, unlike the faded ones of my youth) of delightful meals and impeccable service made with friends from so many stages in my life.

Thank you, Charlie Trotter. May you rest in peace. My thoughts are with your family and all who loved you.