Family, Chefs Pay Respects To Charlie Trotter At Memorial Service

By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 11, 2013 10:15PM

Family, peers and fans of Charlie Trotter flocked to Fourth Presbyterian Church this morning to pay their final respects to the pioneering chef who put Chicago’s culinary community on the map.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel attended the service with his wife Amy Rule. Emanuel described Trotter as a Chicago original.

"Charlie Trotter was one of a kind. Most famous chefs are journeymen who come to a city from somewhere else, to make their name and make their mark," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said during the service. "Not Charlie. He was born here. He made his mark here. And he is remembered here, fondly."

Chefs in attendance included renowned names like Thomas Keller, Todd English, Daniel Boulud, David Myers, Trotter’s mentor Norman Van Aken, Rick Tramonto, Emeril Lagasse and local chefs Carrie Nahabedian, Bill Kim, Michael Kornick, Graham Elliot and Matthias Merges.

Trotter’s sister, Anne Trotter Hinkamp, told those in attendance her brother loved to joke that he “raised my brothers and me” and that his greatest achievement was his son Dylan.

“I don’t think it’d be too far for me to say he raised many others in this room as well," Hinkamp added.

Trotter was found dead in his Lincoln Park home last week. An autopsy ruled out foul play but further tests are pending.

Related:
Charlie Trotter Dies At Age 54