RIP Charlie Trotter - Greatest Chicago Chef

[merithyn]

Not suicide, then.

An autopsy is scheduled today for celebrated chef Charlie Trotter, who was found unconscious in his Lincoln Park home by his son, according to police.

An ambulance was called to the home in the 1800 block of North Dayton Street around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday after Trotter's son Dylan found him unresponsive, according to a police report. Trotter was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police have said the death does not appear suspicious. According to the police report, Trotter had suffered a stroke several months ago and had been told by a neurologist not to fly.  However, he had flown to Jackson Hole, Wyo. to address a culinary conference Sunday night.

"He got on a plane this weekend and his son found him unresponsive this morning," the police report stated. "No drugs, alcohol or weapons found on scene and no signs of any suspicious activity."

Larry Stone, Trotter's longtime sommelier and friend, said the chef told him about a brain aneurysm, and had been told by doctors that he should not be flying, should not be at high altitudes and should not exert himself because of the resulting pressure on his brain.

"It was a time bomb, and he felt that he didn't have a lot of time left," said Stone, who now works with the Quintessa winery in Napa Valley. "It was inoperable, and it was not something that could be repaired; it was deep inside the brain. ... It was obvious he had problems and he had some seizures. It's a condition that had worsened in the last few years but it was something he had for quite a while."