Taste Charlie Trotter’s Legacy at Grant Achatz’s Next in Chicago

"A pioneering fine-dining restaurant that opened in 1987 and ran for 25 years, it helped define American dining by popularizing the tasting menu and a full vegetable menu, introducing thoughtful wine pairings and non-alcoholic options, and championing sustainability long before it was a buzzword. Produce arrived from artisanal farmers up to three times a day as the kitchen cultivated direct relationships with fishermen, livestock raisers, and vegetable growers, and its curiosity drove bold, ahead-of-its-time fusion that smartly wove French, Japanese, Indian, and Vietnamese influences with a backbone of flavor, even spotlighting then-obscure ingredients like quinoa. Menus changed daily—often 10 courses—and vegetable cookery demanded improvisation, with memorable plates like goat cheese wrapped in zucchini with a hazelnut vinaigrette. Inside, Trotter led with precision and high expectations but also empowerment, sending cooks to present their own dishes tableside and delivering galvanizing staff speeches that built confidence and philosophy. His generosity matched his drive: he quietly extended acts of kindness, hosted three weekly tastings for public high school students (who were prompted to ask two questions before food was served), and even pulled passersby in off the street for impromptu nine-course dinners. The restaurant ignited Chicago’s reputation as a serious dining city and launched a lineage of chefs—among them Grant Achatz, Curtis Duffy, Markus Glocker, and John Shields—who continue to carry his legacy forward." - Michael He