Charlie Trotter to Create Restaurants for Elysian Hotel and Private Residences
Wednesday November 29, 12:44 pm ET
CHICAGO, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Five-star chef Charlie Trotter will bring his superlative-culinary experience to the Elysian Hotel and Private Residences, flagship of a new ultra-luxury brand, under construction at 11 East Walton Street and scheduled to open in 2008. The venture marks Trotter's first collaboration in the U.S. and the latest success for the Gold Coast development.
"We talked with some of the nation's foremost chefs about creating a restaurant truly attuned to the quality and character of the Elysian. In Charlie, we found the ideal partner, whose standards of excellence equal our own," said David Pisor, founding partner and chief executive officer of the property's developer, Elysian Worldwide. "Widely regarded as one of America's finest chefs, Charlie is an icon and true innovator in the worlds of food and service. We couldn't be more thrilled about our association with him."
Responsible for all food and beverage operations at the Elysian, Trotter will create an exclusive restaurant open for dinner only -- his first new fine dining restaurant in Chicago since 1987 -- featuring the inspired and consistently flawless cuisine that is his trademark. Additionally, he will operate a second dining room, open all day, and oversee cuisine for in-suite dining, banquets and catering.
"Over the past two decades, I have had countless offers to partner with hoteliers all across America, but this is the first time I have felt a real meeting of minds," Trotter added. "David is a true visionary, and I look forward to working with him and his team to deliver a guest experience unlike any other."
Since opening in 1987, Charlie Trotter's eponymous restaurant in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood has won international recognition including induction into the esteemed Relais & Chateaux and membership in Traditions & Qualite. One of only two Chicago restaurants to receive five stars from the Mobil Travel Guide, Charlie Trotter's has won ten James Beard Foundation awards and accolades as America's Best Restaurant from Wine Spectator magazine. In 2004 Trotter opened "C," a fine-dining seafood restaurant at the newly renovated One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, Mexico. Trotter also oversees all private dining at One&Only Palmilla, and operates their poolside casual restaurant, "Breeze."
Chef Trotter joins an all-star team behind the Elysian's success. International real estate developer Golub & Company is the project manager, and its principals are investors in the project. Lucien Lagrange, synonymous with the city's premier luxury residential towers and another local icon, designed the core and shell of the 60-story tower. Chicago-based Simeone Deary Design Group created the interiors for all public spaces and the 188 hotel suites. Above the hotel, 51 expansive, private residences from 3,400 to 12,000 square feet, provide stunning views of the city and the lake. Two years before the Elysian's scheduled completion, sales have reached 70 percent.
Visits to the Elysian's sales salon, 605 N. Michigan Ave., are by appointment. For more information, phone 312-664-9500 or visit
http://www.elysianhotels.com .
Elysian Worldwide is a Chicago-based real estate development firm founded in 2003 to develop ultra-luxury landmark hotels and residential properties in gateway cities and destination resorts throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm's leadership includes David Pisor, general partner and CEO, as well as principals Mary Beth Malone, Jeffrey Pavlik and Mario Tricoci.
Chicago Chef Charlie Trotter to open new restaurant
By ASHLEY M. HEHER
AP Business Writer
Published November 29, 2006, 11:55 AM CST
CHICAGO -- Charlie Trotter, an iconic chef whose name is synonymous with Chicago's gourmet cuisine, wants to dish out a second helping of his five-star meals.
Trotter, a Chicago native whose self-titled restaurant draws gourmands and members of the expense-account set, announced Wednesday he plans to open a second Chicago eatery in a new 60-story luxury hotel and condominium project.
"We're excited to deliver not just a stamped-out, high-end experience, but something that is really personal and something that has a genuineness about it," Trotter said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. "I can't wait."
Trotter, the author of a dozen books and host a PBS cooking show, has been a fixture in Chicago's culinary world for nearly two decades. While his dishes are known for their use of vegetables, Asian influences and French techniques, Trotter is infamous for his food-as-art presentation and serious philosophy on cuisine. (An introduction to one book quotes Goethe and Dostoyevsky.)
He's also a reputed perfectionist with a demanding kitchen presence. The New York Times once described Trotter as "a tyrant" and Chicago Magazine listed him as the second-meanest person in the city.
The as-yet-unnamed restaurant -- a fine-dining, dinner-only venue that will have a more casual dining area for breakfast, lunch and dinner -- is scheduled to open in October 2008 at The Elysian Hotel on the Gold Coast.
The chef's new restaurant marks Trotter's first Chicago dining expansion since he launched his signature restaurant in 1987.
Trotter opened a gourmet takeout shop in Chicago's Lincoln Park in 2000 and a seafood-focused restaurant in Los Cabos, Mexico in 2004. Trotter and a real estate developer scrapped plans to start a restaurant in the New York City's Time Warner Center last year after the budget grew to nearly $12 million.
"Charlie's a lot more than a chef," said David Pisor, CEO of Elysian Worldwide. "He understands the experience of dining and how to make it more than just food."
Bespectacled, boyish and immaculately dressed, the 47-year-old hunches forward when he speaks about his latest venture. The menu has yet to be announced, but Trotter said it will draw "ideology" from his current restaurant.
"I'm elated with the idea of taking on a challenge to do something here in my own back yard, but do it differently and do it in a way where it really is new and it's exciting, but it still borrows the great elements of what all great experiences," he said.
Trotter also will be responsible for room service and banquet fare at the $260 million Gold Coast hotel.
"There have been no shortage of opportunities around America and around the world, and in my own back yard, but this is the one," Trotter said. "I've seen my colleagues over the years take on too many things. And that's fine, but you want to make sure that you have the energy and the wherewithal to do anything you do the absolute right way and that's why we feel so strongly about this."
The Elysian will have 188 rooms and 51 condominiums with units listing from $480,000 to $6 million.
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On the Net:
www.charlietrotters.com
www.elysianhotels.com
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