A jazz musician can improvise based on his knowledge of music. He understands how things go together. For a chef, once you have that basis, that's when cuisine is truly exciting. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
In my case, vertical food was less about standing things up than layering things: more an attempt to gain texture by weaving things together. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
I don't want to turn 50 and say, 'Gosh, I wish I'd lived in that part of the world for a time. I wish… — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
If people give me a year or two of their best effort, then I am their friend for life. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
You know the old adage that the customer's always right? Well, I kind of think that the opposite is true. The customer is rarely… — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
I never considered Miles Davis a perfectionist; I always considered him as an excellence-ist, where deviation is actually kind of cool. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
I wasn't using college as a stepping stone to law school or some other career. I just wanted a liberal-arts education. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
There has been no great surprise, no sudden revelation. I knew pretty much what I was getting into. What I've learned is that a… — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
Sometimes I think I should have chosen a line of work where it was just me alone in the room, with the sun coming… — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
I'm really not that comfortable with people. I mean, I love individuals, but I'm not very social. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
I have a goal so lofty it's almost embarrassing to talk about. And that's to be the best restaurant in the world. — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
At home, a man is entitled to raise his voice maybe once a year, if something really gets under his skin. At work, it's… — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
In a time when it is common for chefs to simply reproduce the innovations of others, the few who speak for themselves through their… — Charlie Trotter Copy Share Image
