Charlie Trotter To Close Chicago Restaurant

After 25 years of groundbreaking (not to mention mouth-watering) work as one of the world's premiere culinary geniuses, renowned chef Charlie Trotter will close his eponymous Chicago restaurant in August of 2012. “This is our chance to say let’s end this on a great note of 25 years,” he told The Chicago Sun-Times. “A quarter century of running a restaurant — that’s a long time to do one thing.”

While news of a high-profile restaurant closing may have many people blaming the economy, Trotter, 52, said his reasons for closing are not financial. Instead, he plans to travel the world with his wife and go back to school to study philosophy and political theory.

Meanwhile, reservations to the famous Charile Trotter's are about to get more competitive. The final eight months of the restaurant, which opened in 1987 and added variety to Chicago's mostly French-inspired dining culture, will be a plate full of special dinners and events — although only four days a week instead of five. The chef's takeout shop, Trotter’s To Go, is not closing.