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Charlie Trotter Quotes

Powerful Charlie Trotter for Daily Growth

The most successful food, I think, is food that both appeals to the super-sophisticated diner or foodie and to the lay diner at the same time.

- Charlie Trotter

Think, I Think, Lay, Diner

What I was reading was already part of my psyche, but finally someone else was saying it's okay to walk alone.

- Charlie Trotter

Okay, Finally, Part, Psyche

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

Jazz, Based, Jazz Musician, Chef

I don't understand people who spend their twenties hanging out in bars and going to football game. That stuff is so boring compared to really applying yourself to what you do.

- Charlie Trotter

Game, Applying, Twenties, Bars

All four elements were happening in equal measure - the cuisine, the wine, the service, and the overall ambience. It taught me that dining could happen at a spiritual level.

- Charlie Trotter

Dining, Happen, Level, Elements

I took the obligatory economics classes in school, but I've long been a fan of the Milton Friedman philosophy and its libertarian bent: One must be free to do what one wants to do, as long as you don't harm another. This is the seminal treatise on free-market economics.

- Charlie Trotter

Been, Harm, Classes, Obligatory

I never considered Miles Davis a perfectionist; I always considered him as an excellence-ist, where deviation is actually kind of cool.

- Charlie Trotter

Kind, Always, Considered, Deviation

It's a challenge to demonstrate that you can prepare some really interesting food with humble ingredients.

- Charlie Trotter

Humble, Prepare, Some, Demonstrate

I timed my previous wife's pregnancy to the moment to have my son born on Bob Dylan's 50th birthday. There is no bigger Bob Dylan fan than me. You don't just time the day and impregnate your wife to get your kid to be born on Bob Dylan's 50th birthday.

- Charlie Trotter

Birthday, Kid, Your, Pregnancy

Students need to learn how to think critically, how to argue opposing ideas. It is important for them to learn how to think. You can always cook.

- Charlie Trotter

Think, Always, Opposing, Critically

Excellence is about fighting and pursuing something diligently, with a strict and determined approach to doing it right. It's okay if there are flaws in the process - it makes it more interesting.

- Charlie Trotter

Process, Doing, Okay, Flaws

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

College, Some, Using, Stone

I've always liked root vegetables because most of them have a natural sweetness. They have a high fructose content, especially when you cook them and caramelize them in a saute pan. Or you can take a turnip and cook it slowly in the oven until it's browned, and it takes on a kind of sweetness. These vegetables are pretty easy to like.

- Charlie Trotter

Vegetables, Content, Liked, Pan

To me, searching for perfection isn't anywhere near as interesting as trying to find your own voice.

- Charlie Trotter

Voice, Trying, Find, Perfection

If you know what you're doing, you can make a meal happen with any kitchen knife. But using a top-quality knife versus a low-quality one is the difference between driving a Jaguar and a VW Jetta across the country. They'll both get you there. But the Jaguar will give you a much smoother ride.

- Charlie Trotter

Ride, Doing, Country, Versus

I don't know how to put this gently, but I'm trying to tackle the biggest question of all, which is the God question.

- Charlie Trotter

Question, Which, Put, Gently

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

More, Texture, About, Weaving

If you want the meaning of families and life and religion and philosophy rolled into one package, all you need to read is 'The Brothers Karamazov.'

- Charlie Trotter

Need, Package, Read, Meaning Of

I couldn't really relate to the fraternity or party scene, to the people out in the mall every day protesting one thing or another. I felt like there was no one I could relate to.

- Charlie Trotter

Every Day, Like, Could, Protesting

I would always be embarrassed to read out loud in class because I would transpose words and letters and things.

- Charlie Trotter

Always, Loud, Read, Letters

I was always inspired by restaurants like La Tulipe in Manhattan. You'd walk right by and say, 'Oh what a lovely house.' You didn't realize there was a restaurant behind the door.

- Charlie Trotter

Lovely, Behind, Always, La

Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit.

- Charlie Trotter

Spirit, Yes, Generous, Tasting

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 different. I raise my voice all the time. Not out of malice, but to get things right. It's never personal.

- Charlie Trotter

Voice, Maybe, Entitled, Malice

My father was a successful entrepreneur.

- Charlie Trotter

Father, Successful, Entrepreneur

My fantasy is to have a restaurant where there are no written menus, but where you just ask people, 'What are you in the mood for? Fish? Meat? White wine?'

- Charlie Trotter

Restaurant, Fantasy, Mood, Wine

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 I'd read that book by Faulkner.' I want time to delve back into Thoreau and Kafka.

- Charlie Trotter

Want, I Wish, Read, Faulkner

In a time when it is common for chefs to simply reproduce the innovations of others, the few who speak for themselves through their food become the skilled artists of their time.

- Charlie Trotter

Through, Chefs, Skilled, Reproduce

The body cannot produce enzymes in perfect combinations to metabolize your foods as completely as the food enzymes created by nature do. This results in partially digested fats, proteins, and starches that can clog your body's intestinal tract and arteries.

- Charlie Trotter

Perfect, Tract, Foods, Fats

A quarter century of running a restaurant - that's a long time to do one thing.

- Charlie Trotter

Long Time, Running, Century, Quarter Century

If you go around the kitchen and ask my employees what they want to be doing in three to five years, most of them, if they're being honest, will tell you that they don't want to be working for me. They want to have their own place. And I think that's great.

- Charlie Trotter

Doing, Tell, I Think, Kitchen

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