Charlie Trotter Is Loosening Up

So what's chef Charlie Trotter been up to ever since he announced the closing of his restaurant? Well, according to Chicago Magazine's Jeff Ruby, Trotter's trotting around his dining room, joking, roaring, and yucking it up. Their words, not ours.

Things that Ruby noticed at his most recent meal at Trotter's: servers didn't know what they were serving! Dirty dishes were left at a table for 20 minutes!  And Trotter himself, plopping down brioches and saying things like, "I can do this because I'm Mr. Chef!"

Other noteworthy changes in the restaurant? The grand menu price jumped to $165 and $195, from $30. Oh, and "people are now outwardly enjoying them in a festive room rather than expressing hushed admiration in a silent one," Ruby writes. The food, though, is just as good as ever, he reports. Better barter for some reservations now. And hey, if we were the chef celebrating our career and going off to grad school, we'd probably let ourselves go way more than Trotter has.