Charlie Trotter is a chef. But when he searches for the perfect words to describe his style, he doesn't cite pearls of wisdom from Julia Child or Wolfgang Puck. Instead, he invokes Jerry Garcia -- guitarist (and management thinker) extraordinaire. "Jerry said that the secret to the Grateful Dead's success was not that they were trying to make music that was better than other bands', or music that was different from other bands'," Trotter explains. "They were trying to make music that only they could make. To me, searching for perfection isn't anywhere near as interesting as trying to find your own voice."
This celebrated chef's one-of-a-kind voice has won zealous fans from around the world of fine dining. Charlie Trotter's restaurant, set in a renovated 1908 brownstone in the Lincoln Park West section of Chicago, opened in 1987. Ever since, it has won rave reviews, prestigious awards, and a stream of powerful patrons. The James Beard Foundation, which administers the most prestigious awards in the American food world, named Trotter "Outstanding Chef" of 1999. The restaurant is one of a handful of establishments in the United States to have earned five Mobil Stars and five AAA Diamonds, and to have been inducted into the internationally renowned Relais & Chateaux, an association of more than 400 restaurants and châteaus all over the world. Now he's gunning for the U.S. government's Malcolm Baldrige quality award, which no independent restaurant has ever won. He has also published a collection of cookbooks and hosts a cooking show on PBS.
How has Trotter cooked up such acclaim? By creating a style of food -- and designing a style of service -- that sets him apart from even his most talented peers. His recipe for success holds lessons for everyone who's wrestling with how to stand out in an environment in which competition is tougher than ever, expectations are higher than ever, and the sacrifices required for success are bigger than ever.
Some years ago, American cooking schools, in an effort to professionalize an occupation that paid little and was lacking in prestige, began awarding degrees in "culinary arts." The problem was that very little of what these budding chefs turned out even remotely resembled art. It doesn't take "artists" to mimic their instructors, who are themselves mimicking crusty old cookbooks written by ancient French chefs.
Doing things differently is hard in the restaurant business, where new raw materials are tough to come by. Chefs achieve artistry through relentless creativity, tastefully and consistently executed. It's no accident that many restaurants fail. Even good restaurants eventually bore their customers if they don't continue to innovate.
Trotter, who earned a political-science degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1982 but never graduated from cooking school, declared from the outset that no matter what happened, eating in his restaurant was never going to be boring. From day one, he spared no expense in getting his hands on the best ingredients: He grows some of his own herbs, pays people to raise venison for him, and gets fish air-freighted to his back door within a couple of hours of when it comes off of the boat each day.
And the food he creates with these things? Try his "Organic Amish Chicken Breast Stuffed with Braised Oxtail & Watercress with Onion 'Surprise' Tortellini & Thyme-Infused Consommé." Then, just when you think you've landed firmly in Pennsylvania farm country, Trotter hits you with "Japanese Hamachi with Fennel Sauce, Celery Root & Pommery Mustard Vinaigrette." Despite the various ethnic origins of his dishes, Trotter's style of preparation tends to be evocative of France, though he resists the temptation to lard everything up with butter and cream. Instead, he flavors his dishes mostly with vegetable purees, stocks like consommé, or oils infused with herbs and other flavoring agents.
It's not just the items on the menu that are different. Early on, during the restaurant's second year, Trotter decided to serve his dishes differently as well, in the form of a set menu each night. More recently, he's been offering two menus in his restaurant's three small dining rooms -- one that's made up entirely of vegetables, and another that includes meat and fish. There's also a table in the kitchen, which features an expanded version of the fixed menu. Meals cost between $90 and $100 each, which includes everything except wine, tip, and tax. Trotter serves his meals in several tiny courses, often as many as six or eight as intricately designed as the ones described above, so that customers can experience a broad range of flavors in one sitting. Every night, without fail, something changes. From one evening to the next, the menu might be 10% to 20% different. From week to week, at least half of it changes. Trotter never serves the same menu twice, so you can't count on returning six months later and ordering your favorite dish from last time -- which you can do at most other fine restaurants.
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
