Charlie Trotter's Restaurant Review

816 W. Armitage Ave. (Halsted St.) Send to Phone

773-248-6228 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu

Price

Charlie Trotter's runs the extra mile to deliver a detailed --- to the extreme --- special occasion experience.

Check out our review of chef Charlie Trotter's cookbook, Homecooking with Charlie Trotter.

Cuisine

Contemporary

Open

Dinner Tues.-Sat.

Features

Heart-healthy dishes
Romantic setting
Private room(s)
Reservations required
Valet parking
Jackets required

Wine

Great Wine List

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Dining room at Charlie Trotter's, Chicago, IL

It is hard to believe that Charlie Trotter has maintained his perpetual quest to better himself and his staff for more than two decades, but those whoâ€™ve dined here recently know itâ€™s true. His obsession with what he calls "excellence" has not ceased --- nor has the quality of what his kitchen turns out. Menus undergo spontaneous metamorphosis and servers constantly challenge their own mettle striving to go the extra mile. There is little question that Trotter seeks out the best products (from more than 90 purveyors, in fact), whether they hail from Michigan farms or the waters of Tasmania. Therefore, there is justification for the â€œprice of admissionâ€ (another Trotter phrase). Dinners consist of dÃ©gustations of six or more courses, and all change nightly: the grand menu, the vegetable menu and the ultra-extravagant kitchen table menu. The kitchen table seats four to six for a 12 to 14 course up-close experience, and itâ€™s advisable to reserve months in advance. Examples of dishes (though the kitchen prides itself on "never serving the same dish twice") include a 72-hour braised short rib with tamarind, pickled kohlrabi and crispy lotus root, and grilled Nantucket Bay scallops with candied kumquats, ankimo and thyme-infused duck consommÃ©. The wine list has few equals in the city: a special section lists many bottles for less than $100, and a good selection of wine is available by the glass and half-bottle.

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Don't be fooled, trust your palate. Stay away. by emaniac on 06/19/2009

I know what tastes good and what does not. I read the review where someone questioned their palate and thought perhaps they were not "worthy" of the food. Let me tell you - our palates are not the problem. It is the food. Allow me to explain. Banana and eel do not go together. Try it at your local sushi restaurant. Get a piece of unagi and accompany it with a spoonful of baby food banana puree. It does not work and is actually kind of disgusting. The salmon dish with dried rose and foam had a mushy consistency that was somewhat nauseating. I actually started to feel queasy by the second or third course. At this point we turned to each other and thought we had just made the biggest mistake of our culinary lives, and were in for a LONG evening ahead of us. One of us opted for the non-alcoholic drink pairing with the dinner. The majority of the drinks were HORRIBLE - nearly undrinkable. The menu sounded incredible - different herbs, juices and combinations of flavors. In reality, they were salty with odd flavors that had little to do with the dishes. If drunk on their own you might think you were sampling last night's dish water. Finally we left the cold appetizers and seafood dishes and started to receive the meat courses. The duck and veal courses were actually excellent, but by this point half the meal had already passed to our great and utter disappointment. I must say though the veal/sweetbread dish was sublime - incredible actually. We did also enjoy the desserts. There were two courses but we received all four dessert options for the night so were able to try everything. There were many interesting combinations of olive oil, dried cherries, meyer lemon, chocolate, and sesame ice cream. The desserts were novel and fun to sample. For a bill of over $500 for dinner for two, the missteps, inconsistency of the food, and truly horrible flavor combinations in certain courses are absolutely inexcusable. I felt ripped off and remain angry over this meal (Note: we ate this dinner two weeks ago and are still thinking about it). I can't see how anyone would ever eat in this restaurant twice or recommend for even one meal.