Chicago was always the many things Carl Sandburg attributed to it in his proud poem about the city's rough-hewn proletariat. Then, in 1987, came Charlie Trotter and the restaurant he audaciously named for himself, and the brawling slugger of a metropolis became the site of epicurean pilgrimages from around the world. Trotter inspired a new generation of innovative American chefs through both love and fear--love for the exquisite craft that went into his cuisine and fear of his pugnacious drive and biting temper. He knew it took more than food to create the universe of a unique restaurant.
One anecdote--among many--had...