Trotter Charlie - Lessons in Excellence from Charlie Trotter

Copyright 1999 by Paul Clarke
photograph on copyright 1999 by Paul Elledge

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with publisher.

eISBN: 978-0-307-81531-6

Design by Toni Tajima

v3.1

I would like to thank my team at Ten Speed Press, who helped to make my dream a reality. Diana Reiss brought her tremendous editorial talents to bear on the text, as did Jenny Morrison and Kathy Hashimoto. Id like to especially thank Lorena Jones, who persuaded me to persevere when the going got tough and provided me with invaluable direction and indispensable insight. Id also like to thank Aaron Wehner, who coordinated the project, and Toni Tajima, who created the striking design.

This book wouldnt exist if it werent for Charlie Trotter, whose leadership skills, extraordinary vision, and passion for excellence inspired its writing. I thank him most for having the confidence in me to undertake the project. He spent nearly fifty hours answering my questions and providing me with information about his business, provided me with the names of customers and media who could offer further information, and freed up his staff to speak with me on many occasions. Not only that, dozens of days and nights he welcomed me into his restaurant to observe his operation and work alongside his team, taking notes, hanging coats, plating food, greeting customers, you name it. With Charlie Trotter and his business as models, my job was not only easy, but also eminently enjoyable and illuminating.

I owe my family a huge debt of gratitude. My parents, Dan and Bridget Clarke, and my sister, Stephanie, have provided me with unending support and encouragement over the years. I especially thank my lovely wife, Kathy, who not only has supported my efforts, but also has been a wonderful and patient mother to our two young children, Kevin and Jacqueline, while I have been moonlighting to complete this project for three years.

Yours truly,

Paul Clarke

What makes Charlie Trotter such a great chef?

T his question ran through my mind as the time came to be a chef-for-a-day in Charlie Trotters kitchen. My family won the opportunity in a charity auction and knew I would love to spend a day in the world-famous kitchen. As an industrial psychologist, I help CEOs and venture capital investors assess people and improve companies. In the course of my career, I have advised self-made billionaires, Rhodes scholars, and brilliant scientists, but I have rarely seen a more impressive leader than Charlie Trotter. After nine hours in his kitchen, I observed that Chef Trotter (as his team calls him) demonstrates six core leadership skills that serve as lessons for those of us in the business world.

Upon entering the kitchen at 2 p.m., I was immediately impressed by the quality of Trotters chefs. Not an unshaven, untucked slacker was to be found in this group. Had they not been wearing the customary chef hats and jackets, I might have mistaken them for Goldman Sachs investment bankers. Chef Trotter scours the world for talent; the best stay, the rest go. Each of the twelve culinary artists had an air of professionalism, urgency, cheerful briskness, and confidence. A petite, poised woman greeted me at the door and whisked me off to convert my civilian clothes into chefs garb.

Charlie Trotters kitchen is not a collection of individuals. It is a living, breathing beast with seventy-four legs and arms, all moving in a fast-paced ballet designed to produce the finest dining experience anywhere. It was interesting to note that everyone wore exactly the same outfit. There were no red jackets for sous chefs (Charlies lieutenants) or a super tall hat for the Master Chef. At 4 p.m., the team all ate together. Throughout the evening, whenever somebody had a spare moment, he or she swept or mopped the floor to keep it spotless. Pitch in and help: work as a team.

Every person in the kitchen knows what everyone else is doing. Because the timing has to be perfect in order for a dish to come together and make it to the customers table hot, communication is key. Also, because the kitchen is small, a failure to communicate might result in collisions, spills, or fires. In Trotters kitchen, if you close your eyes, you can picture what people are doing because they announce everything: Open! when they open a cabinet door, Coming through, or the more urgent Coming throughhot! when they really need to get by, sometimes followed by the more direct Suck it in!

It should not surprise you that Trotters buys the very best ingredients. But did you know that the restaurants leaders actually visit farmers and suppliers and talk about ways to make the best even better?

At one point, after I had finished peeling some lemons, I watched a junior chef take five minutes to carefully arrange slices of duck on six plates. When he finished, the wait staff was not ready to deliver the minimasterpieces at precisely the right time. I heard the junior chef mutter, Ah, its not perfect nownot hot. Without hesitation, he disassembled each of the plates, replaced them with hot slices of duck, and said loudly, I will have this for you in thirty seconds, please be ready. Charlie Trotter was not in proximity and did not have to tell anyone to replace the dish and make it perfect. That is the sign of a great leaderone whose high standards permeate the organization even when he or she is not there.

Chef Trotter does not seem to be limited by convention in determining what ingredients go with what. He will be the judge of what tastes good together, thank you very much. Also, he encourages all of his chefs to suggest ideas and to experiment. This passion for innovation and willingness to listen to the good ideas from your people is how great leaders bend the paradigm and create a competitive advantage.

Everyone from Chef Trotter to the bussers appeared cognizant of the end goal of the restaurant: to truly delight customers. They delighted me when, after letting me bother them for a full workday, one of the sous chefs set up a small tablecloth and a glass of chardonnay. Hungry? he asked. Sure! I said, hoping to be offered a morsel of what we had just prepared. What followed was a nine-course meal suitable for a king, each course prepared and presented by a different chef.

So what was the man himself like? Charlie Trotter is a quietly intense man. He leads by example, gives very candid but constructive feedback, and is incredibly meticulous in a way that would make CPAs envious. When I was sprinkling some sage on a group of dishes, my blatant incompetence caught Chef Trotters attention from thirty feet away. You must sprinkle