Charlie Trotter Kicks Off Year-long 15th Anniversary Celebrations

CHARLIE TROTTER KICKS OFF HIS YEAR-LONG 15TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS WITH GALA WEEKEND HONORING LEDGENDARY SWISS CHEF FREDY GIRARDET AND RAISING MONEY FOR FAVORITE CHARITIES

Girardet, The Pope of Grand Cuisine, Emerges From Retirement to
Cook in Honor of 15th Anniversary

In 1987, on the North Side of Chicago, Charlie Trotter opened a restaurant which was immediately recognized as one of the great restaurants of the world, while Trotter himself quickly became known as one of the worlds leading chefs and restaurateurs. Fifteen years later great chefs from around the world will converge on Chicago for the weekend of August 17-18, 2002 and make their way to Charlie Trotters at 816 West Armitage to honor his achievements, pay homage to legendary Swiss Chef Fredy Girardet and raise money for Chef Trotters favorite charities, including a donation of more than $75,000 to non-profit Share Our Strength.

Chef Trotter will be joined by chefs Tetsuya Wakuda of Sydney, Australia; Norman Van Aken of Coral Gables, Florida; Guenter Seegar of Seegers, Atlanta; Gray Kunz, formerly of Lespinasse in New York; and Pierre Hermi, of Ladurie in Paris and Pierre Hermi in Tokyo to kick off this milestone occasion. As part of the weekend celebrations, on Saturday August 17th, Tetsuya, Van Aken, Kunz and Hermi will sign copies of their books at Trotters To Go, the gourmet to go extension of Chef Trotters restaurant.

On Saturday evening things will move into high gear as Chef Girardet emerges from retirement for this one evening to take over the kitchen at Charlie Trotters to honor his friend Chef Trotter. With the assistance of the other visiting chefs, Girardet will prepare a final reprise of the magnificent meals he has served at his restaurant in Crissier, Switzerland for so many years. The meal will be accompanied by Swiss wines from the 22 cases that Girardet has shipped specially for the celebration. Proceeds from the $2,000 plate black tie dinner will be donated to Chicagos Joffrey Ballet.

The program will continue lunchtime Sunday with a champagne and wine reception with Fredy Girardet for chefs and the local media, at which Chef Girardet will debut the English translation of his new cookbook, Girardet, while preparations from it are served to the guests. This event will be held in Charlie Trotters Studio Kitchen, where taping takes place for Charlies acclaimed PBS TV show The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter, which is about to go into its fourth season. Proceeds from the $100 donations to attend this event will benefit the Charlie Trotter Culinary Educational Foundation, founded by Chef Trotter to provide scholarships to individuals who wish to pursue an education in the culinary arts.
Later Sunday afternoon, award-winning wine maker Gina Gallo will be at Trotters To Go, where she will introduce Gallos highly anticipated single barrel vineyard select wines from the 1997 release.

The grand finale of the weekend will take place Sunday evening, when Charlie Trotter and his guest chefs take to the kitchen to prepare a meal in Fredy Girardets honor, with Master Sommelier Larry Stone orchestrating the wine program. This dinner is part of Share Our Strengths celebrity chef and restaurateur dinner series. The proceeds from the evening will go to support Share Our Strengths efforts to fight hunger and poverty around the world and a check for more than $75,000 will be presented to Share Our Strength. Donations to attend this exclusive black tie celebration are $1,250 per person.

Fredy Girardet, who retired in 1996, is generally considered one of the greatest and most original chefs of his time. His restaurant, Restaurant Girardet, was a mecca for connoisseurs of the finest cuisine, and drew people to Crissier in Switzerland from all over the world. For Charlie Trotter he was a seminal influence. It was at Girardets restaurant in 1985 that Trotter experienced t