Charlie Trotter's Restaurant Space to House Culinary Nonprofit

The legacy of local gourmet food pioneer Charlie Trotter, who died last year, will live on in the space of his former Lincoln Park restaurant, according to the Chicago Tribune. 
 
Alumni of Trotter's will use the space on Armitage Avenue to house the nonprofit Trotter Project, which was announced Thursday, according to the Tribune. It will provide culinary education to people in need, create a new online rating system for restaurants and more. 

“Very few chefs gave back to the community as much as Charlie did,” Homaro Cantu, the new organization’s board chairman, said in an interview with the Tribune. “That’s what we want to focus on here: bringing excellence into areas that maybe could use it.”

Read the full article here for more information. 

Trotter was found dead in his home Nov. 5, 2013. He was 54. His eponymous restaurant in Lincoln Park was a fixture of the Chicago gourmet restaurant scene for 25 years in November 2013. 

Charlie Trotter's was a pioneer in fine dining in Chicago and the restaurant won many awards and accolades. According to the restaurant website, it won 11 James Beard Foundation awards, including 'Outstanding Restaurant' in 2000 and 'Outstanding Chef' in 1999. Trotter himself won 'Humanitarian of The Year" award in 2012. The restaurant closed last year.