Charlie Trotter Quotes

When people arrive at El Bulli, everybody goes through the kitchen. It's a way of making them feel at home. When they leave, the only thing I ask is whether they've been happy. Everything in between, I don't particularly care.

If you have good food, people will come to your restaurant.

The best meal at my restaurant is the whole right side of the menu.

I love restaurants from top to bottom.

Food is one part of the experience. And it has to be somewhere between 50 to 60 percent of the dining experience. But the rest counts as well: The mood, the atmosphere, the music, the feeling, the design, the harmony between what you have on the plate and what surrounds the plate.

I have the restaurant, too. I serve Southwest, barbecue.

Today's restaurant is theater on a grand scale.

I used to love fine dining, but I lost my appetite for it to a degree because sometimes it is too much about the effort and too little about the result.

For me, a great meal is a collision of company, environment, ambient temperature, the waiters, where you are emotionally.

Even if you're having a snack, enjoying it in a beautiful teacup or on a lovely plate makes it feel like more of an event.

A good restaurant is like a vacation; it transports you, and it becomes a lot more than just about the food.

I like using iconic things. What fine dining restaurant can get you to eat a breakfast sandwich that's like baby food?

Dining is and always was a great artistic opportunity.

The meal was pretentious - a kind of beetroot soup with greasy croutons; pork underdone with loud vulgar cabbage, potato croquettes, tinned peas in tiny jam-tart cases, watery gooseberry sauce; trifle made with a resinous wine, so jammy that all my teeth lit up at once.

A tablecloth restaurant is still one of the great rewards of civilization.

The fish is the star of the plate.

Icons are also beautiful, with their luminous colors and gold leaf. On first glance, the subjects can seem flat, their poses artificial. But the wonder of the icons has to do with the relationship which develops between the panel and the viewer. Looking at an icon brings me a feeling of serenity; it's like a form of prayer. So I suppose in this sense, the icon is unsurpassed.

I think there's a reason why wine figures into so many religions. There's something transcendent about it. It's sort of the way that music is more than the sum of its parts. You have all these elements that make up the terroir that wine can communicate.

Cheesecake Factory is great. It should have Michelin stars.

Even more then long hours in the kitchen, fine meals require ingenious organization and experience which is a pleasure to acquire.

Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the holy is drawing near.

In spite of food fads, fitness programs, and health concerns, we must never lose sight of a beautifully conceived meal.

From my table inside I watch the glamorous women outside who are lunching on Spa Cobb salads without blue cheese or dressing. The man with the bread basket wanders from table to table, lonesome as a cloud. When he comes to me his basket is full and perfectly arranged. He gives me a smile of sincere pleasure when I tell him I will take both the sourdough roll and the cheese stick.

No, mademoiselle, I would not like to see the children's menu. I have no doubt that the children's menu itself tastes better than the meals on it. I would like to order à la carte. Or don't you serve fish to minors?