Famous Chef Charlie Trotter Found Dead In His Chicago Home

Famed chef Charlie Trotter was found dead Tuesday morning, according to a family friend and police sources.

At 10:45 a.m. an ambulance was called to Trotter’s home in the 1800 block of North Dayton Street. Trotter, 54, was found by his son Dylan. Dylan discovered his dad unconscious and not breathing.

A friend, Carrie Nahabedian, said she spoke to Trotter’s wife Rochelle, who said her husband was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It was at the hospital that he was officially pronounced dead.

“My baby’s gone” Trotter’s wife said, according to Nahabedian.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed the death, but a pronouncement time was not available.

Steve Kolinski, one of Trotter’s neighbors, said that Trotter was known in the neighborhood for providing food for block parties. Kolinski came outside late this morning and saw six police cars and an ambulance. Kolinski then saw Trotter’s wife, who ran outside and was “yelling hysterically.”

Well-known Chicago chef, Graham Elliot Bowles, spoke fondly of his friend:

“An extreme father figure to me when it came to not just cooking but life and seeing things in a different way. I just talked to him maybe two weeks ago and just can’t put into words just how saddened I am by all of this. it’s a huge loss not just personally but for the culinary world.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr,Trotter had closed his 25-year-old eponymous restaurant in 2012.