Award-Winning
Chicago Chef Charlie Trotter Dies at 54
By FBWorld Team
Famous
and beloved Chicago chef Charlie Trotter died Tuesday
morning, a fire department source told
NBC Chicago affiliate WMAQ. Charlie Trotter
was a beloved chef who gave of himself generously to many
causes and organizations. He will be sorely missed by
those who knew him and, those who knew of him.
An
ambulance was called to his home at 10:45 a.m., and he
was found unconscious and not breathing, according to
the Chicago
Tribune.
Trotter
was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead. He was 54.
Trotter
closed his celebrated restaurant, Charlie Trotter's, in
August 2012 after 25 years in business. In 2010, it was
one of only three restaurants in Chicago to be awarded
two stars by the Michelin Guide.
It
also had earned numerous other accolades over its history.
Upon closing the restaurant, Trotter said he planned to
travel the world and go back to school to study philosophy
and political theory.
"Personally,
it's time for me to try something different," Trotter
told TODAY's Katy Tur last year upon closing his restaurant.
Trotter
was a political science major at the University of Wisconsin
who never went to culinary school. He was self-taught,
picking up his love of cooking from watching an old college
roommate prepare meals.
Trotter
started his restaurant in 1987 and watched the awards
pour in; in 2000, Win Spectator named Charlie Trotter's
the best restaurant in the country.
The
James Beard Foundation named Trotter the country's Outstanding
Chef in 1999, named him its Humanitarian of the Year in
2012, and gave the restaurant its Outstanding Service
award in 2002.
Trotter
was known as a demanding leader to those who worked under
him, pushing them to be the best.
"I've
never set out to be beloved," he told Tur last year.
"I will do what I have to do to get it to a certain
level."
For
the original post of this story and comments from his
fans, CLICK
HERE.
By Scott Stump, TODAY contributor
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