Boka
1729 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60614
(312) 337-6070
http://www.bokachicago.com
Hours: dinner daily

Many chefs do a one- or two-year stint in Trotter's kitchen, but the consistent attention to detail and the challenge of wowing customers daily inspired Boka executive chef Giussepe Tentori to stay for almost nine years, from 1998-2007; he served as Chef de Cuisine the last two years.

Of his time at Trotter's he said, "I learned from Charlie that cooking is a way of life, and the way you work is the way you live. Everything matters, from the cleanliness of the dumpsters to the beautiful fish from Japan that was caught 12 hours ago." From his ash-baked eggplant to his squid with black tapioca, Tentori's attention to detail manifests itself in impeccable technique and unexpected ingredients at Boka.

Le Lan
749 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 280-9100
http://www.lelanrestaurant.com
Hours: dinner Monday-Saturday

Le Lan's Bill Kim did "two tours of duty" in the Trotter kitchen, from 1993-1996 and 2001-2003. Like Trotter, Kim fuses exotic pristine world ingredients with French technique, brining pork tenderloin in Chinese five spice mixture or pairing Pacific halibut with escargot wontons.

And as an executive chef, Kim has to motivate a huge staff and he takes his cues from Trotter, saying, "Charlie is a great motivator. He nurtures you, especially with his speeches on Saturday night before service. He knows when you're on the border and how to get you to the next step. He really helped me improve my communication and public speaking, which is essential for running a successful restaurant."

Hot Chocolate
1747 N. Damen Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 489-1747
http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com
Hours: lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday

Owner and executive chef Mindy Segal calls her time in the Trotter kitchen in 1993 "the most important eight months of my life." While she's noted for her technique of amplifying a single sweet ingredient within a dessert, such as chocolate or banana in her famed Cake and Shake dessert, it's a move she learned from Trotter.

"I remember I was poaching Comice pears, and Trotter came over and said, 'Why don't you poach them in their own juice?'" She added, "I do that all the time now, in fact right now I'm cooking peaches in peach broth."

Zealous
419 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 475-9112
http://www.zealousrestaurant.com
Hours: dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Chef Michael Taus scored his 1990 Trotter gig on a chance encounter. Taus's father was celebrating his birthday at Charlie Trotter's and mentioned that his son was a cook and that Trotter should hire him. Trotter told the elder Taus to have Michael give him a call. Repeated calls and a grueling tryout later, he got the job.

After 14 years of operating Zealous, Taus, one of the first Trotter alumni to establish his own name, is a bit of a legend himself. His longevity is a testament to the fact that Trotter taught him "To be the first one in and the last one to leave (the restaurant) each day." Taus, like Trotter, kicks up familiar recipes with luxury ingredients; expect glammed up pot pie with roasted duck breast, savory and raisins.

Moto
945 W. Fulton Market
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 491-0058
http://www.motorestaurant.com
Hours: dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Chef Homaro Cantu worked every position in Trotter's kitchen during his 1999-2004 run, in addition to serving in the dining room with the waitstaff, which might explain why Cantu uses chefs as waiters in his Moto dining room. Of the Trotter's experience, Cantu says, "It was an incredible learning experience from working with some of the world's greatest chefs to learning the importance of great food products."

While it may seem Cantu's culinary wizardry, such as lasering vanilla beans, is leaps away from his mentor, it challenges the diner and hews toward a Trotter tradition of exceeding the diner's expectations. Cantu's not the only Trotter alum at Moto. His right-hand pastry man Ben Roche baked bread for Trotter after culinary school.

Avenues
108 E. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 573-6754
http://chicago.peninsula.com
Hours: dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Almost every chef talks of the grueling hours and incredible dedication it takes to survive the Trotter kitchen, but none puts it in starker terms than Graham Eliot Bowles who says, "I cried at night for my first six months." He added, "We'd get a lot of people staging who would go to feed the meter and they'd never come back. Once you give in to it, he [Trotter] makes you a leader. He didn't teach me to cook. He taught me to think like a chef."

Bowles added of his time at the restaurant, "It's like playing for the Yankees" and says when he first read Trotter's cookbooks, "It was like I'd found my culinary soulmate." And while Bowles has been lumped in with the "science chefs" for dropping strawberry Pop Rocks on foie gras, like Trotter he's a master at exercising restraint, using the wow factor only when it improves the taste of a dish.

Tru
676 N. St. Clair St.
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 202-0001
http://www.trurestaurant.com
Hours: dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Lost in the foie gras fracas was the fact that TRU executive chef Rick Tramonto (also executive chef of Tramonto's Steak & Seafood, Osteria di Tramonto and RT Sushi Bar & Lounge) worked at Charlie Trotters for a brief period. Tramonto says he'd left a job and was doing some soul searching while walking down Armitage; when he looked up he saw Trotter's restaurant, as if by divine intervention. Tramonto knocked on Trotter's back door,asked for a job, and the two local legends shared kitchen space in 1989.

With his caviar staircases and whimsical platings, Tramonto's always been splashier than Trotter, but he built his empire not on flash but on rock solid attention to detail, a Trotter hallmark. Tramonto says, "Charlie is an unparalleled inspiration and leader who truly recognizes that anything is possible and there are no boundaries to perfection. I admire his stand and conviction on everything from foie gras to excellent service. He has, as a matter of fact, set the standards that so many of us in the restaurant industry, and business world, aspire to."

Vie
4471 Lawn Ave.
Western Springs, IL 60558
(708) 246-2082
http://www.vierestaurant.com
Hours: dinner Monday-Saturday

Having spent only five months in the Trotter kitchen, Vie owner/chef Paul Virant, Food and Wine best new chef 2007, is reluctant to talk about his short stint at Charlie Trotter's. He said, "I don't put it on my resume, because I don't think that's fair. I was there for such a short time." Though he adds "a part of me wish I'd stayed there longer. I have tremendous respect for what Trotter does and I appreciate what he's accomplished."

According to Bowles, Trotter used to say that you should be able to blindfold a diner and they should still be able to tell what season it is by the food they are eating. With his slavish attention to using local and farm fresh seasonal ingredients, Virant's cooking would cue your tastebuds in even the tightest of sensory deprivation chambers.