Over the years, chef Grant Achatz of The Alinea Group and the Next Restaurant team have created a series of tasting menus inspired by Escoffier at the Ritz, Thomas Keller’s French Laundry, Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill, and the legacy of Julia Child.
Starting Next week, September 7th, the Next team unveils their newest culinary homage: the work of Charlie Trotter.
Trotter was both an inspiring and polarizing figure. Trotter’s example changed America from a meat and potatoes-loving concern to a fixed-menu-hungry dining public. Without Charlie Trotter’s restaurant, Alinea, Smyth, Oriole, and Ever, the rich tasting menu landscape Chicago has today, probably doesn’t exist.
Trotter and his team which also included Chicago legends like Reggie Watkins, Guillermo Tellez, Matthias Merges, Bill Kim, Giuseppe Tentori, Mindy Segal, Graham Elliot, Beverly Kim, Curtis Duffy, and John Shields, is responsible for the invention or proliferation of so many now familiar dining trends including tasting menus in America, the spread of micro-greens, kitchen table seating, rich wine pairings, raw food, and non-alcoholic offerings.
What people may not know is that chef Achatz worked at Charlie Trotters for a short time, but ended up quitting after a few months. In the documentary Love Charlie, Achatz talks a lot about how at times he didn’t know whether he and Charlie were friends or enemies.
In this podcast, we talk about the complex, innovative Trotter, and how Achatz’s early experiences transformed in to a full appreciation for the man and how he will be celebrating that legacy at Next. We also talk about Achatz’s evolution as a chef, his friendship with the magician David Blaine, and his funny scene on The Bear.
If you stumbled across this podcast and you love this topic, make sure to subscribe to The Hunger. I will also be dropping a long-form written piece next week on the development of the Next/Trotter menu.
A Master Takes On A Master