New Documentary Brings Together Different Ingredients of Chef Charlie Trotter's Life
WDCB’s Gary Zidek talks to filmmaker Rebecca Halpern about her new documentary LOVE, CHARLIE: THE RISE & FALL OF CHEF CHARLIE TROTTER.
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“I think that Charlie Trotter’s life story is kind of a cautionary tale for anyone who has to throw themselves into their work a million-percent in order to achieve a level of excellence that’s almost unreachable. And I think Charlie’s identity became so intrinsically connected to his work, that when the restaurant closed, he did (as well) in some respects.” - LOVE, CHARLIE director Rebecca Halpern talking about Charlie Trotter’s rabid pursuit of excellence.
Director Rebecca Halpern
One of Chicago’s most well-known culinary figures is the subject of a new documentary that’s making its world premiere at the Chicago International Film Festival. Lots of adjectives have been used to describe the late Charlie Trotter. The chef was a trailblazer, who pioneered several culinary concepts that are now commonplace in some of the world’s finest kitchens. He helped put Chicago’s restaurant scene on the map, creating the roots for a thriving tree of chefs that run many of the city’s most respected establishments. But Trotter is also often remembered as a temperamental and sometimes petty figure who was difficult to work with and for. Trotter passed away in 2013, a year after he closed his acclaimed restaurant Charlie Trotter’s. He was 54.
Chicago-area native and now L.A.-based filmmaker Rebecca Halpern wanted to focus on the man more than the mythology in her documentary, LOVE, CHARLIE. The film offers a nuanced look at a talented chef who described himself as enigmatic.
A younger Charlie Trotter in the kitchen.
