Top 33 Charlie Trotter Quotes

For over 20 years, I have been saying that Chicago is by far one of the greatest food cities in the world.

In a time when it is common for chefs to simply reproduce the innovations of others, the few who speak for themselves through their food become the skilled artists of their time.

I have a certain point of view, a certain way to plate food, certain ingredients that I like to use.

At home, a man is entitled to raise his voice maybe once a year, if something really gets under his skin. At work, it’s different. I raise my voice all the time. Not out of malice, but to get things right. It’s never personal.

What I was reading was already part of my psyche, but finally someone else was saying it’s okay to walk alone.

I took the obligatory economics classes in school, but I’ve long been a fan of the Milton Friedman philosophy and its libertarian bent: One must be free to do what one wants to do, as long as you don’t harm another. This is the seminal treatise on free-market economics.

As tough as I’ve been on anybody, as hard as I’ve ever been on anybody, I have been harder on myself. By far.

If you want the meaning of families and life and religion and philosophy rolled into one package, all you need to read is ‘The Brothers Karamazov.’

A jazz musician can improvise based on his knowledge of music. He understands how things go together. For a chef, once you have that basis, that’s when cuisine is truly exciting.

There has been no great surprise, no sudden revelation. I knew pretty much what I was getting into. What I’ve learned is that a restaurant can be as much of an art as you want it to be, but it has to be a successful business first.

I don’t ever want to lose that mind-set where you’ve got to be able to realize different ideas-slash-fantasies-slash-possibilities in your life.

I timed my previous wife’s pregnancy to the moment to have my son born on Bob Dylan’s 50th birthday. There is no bigger Bob Dylan fan than me. You don’t just time the day and impregnate your wife to get your kid to be born on Bob Dylan’s 50th birthday.

I have always considered desserts to be of equal importance to the savory food.

If you know what you’re doing, you can make a meal happen with any kitchen knife. But using a top-quality knife versus a low-quality one is the difference between driving a Jaguar and a VW Jetta across the country. They’ll both get you there. But the Jaguar will give you a much smoother ride.

I love faltering. I love, in a sense, coming up short. Because you learn nothing from success. You learn so much from failing.

If you ever want to get anywhere in life, you’re going to have to push it, and somebody’s going to push you to get there. End of story.

I don’t understand people who spend their twenties hanging out in bars and going to football game. That stuff is so boring compared to really applying yourself to what you do.

In my case, vertical food was less about standing things up than layering things: more an attempt to gain texture by weaving things together.

Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit.

I’m really not that comfortable with people. I mean, I love individuals, but I’m not very social.

My parents couldn’t be looser. It was the ultimate laissez faire upbringing.

You can’t be afraid to not have everything figured out. There’s too much pressure on young people today to have it all figured out when they’re in college.

You’ve got to give away what you love.

I am actually a very gentle person.

The body cannot produce enzymes in perfect combinations to metabolize your foods as completely as the food enzymes created by nature do. This results in partially digested fats, proteins, and starches that can clog your body’s intestinal tract and arteries.

Any fool can be happy. What I’m interested in is satisfaction. There’s got to be more to life than just being happy. You’ve got to be fulfilled. You’ve got to be satisfied; philosophically satisfied is what I mean.

To me, searching for perfection isn’t anywhere near as interesting as trying to find your own voice.

If people give me a year or two of their best effort, then I am their friend for life.

I wasn’t using college as a stepping stone to law school or some other career. I just wanted a liberal-arts education.

You know the old adage that the customer’s always right? Well, I kind of think that the opposite is true. The customer is rarely right.

Life’s too short. You may be on this planet for 80 years at best or who knows, but you can’t just pedal around and do the same thing forever.

I’ve always been a little crazy.

I would always be embarrassed to read out loud in class because I would transpose words and letters and things.