Trotter pulls out of restaurant at Gold Coast hotel

Charlie Trotter, the celebrated Chicago chef, has nixed plans for a restaurant in the luxury Elysian Hotel -- only four months before the eatery's planned debut.

Trotter and the hotel at 11 E. Walton issued a joint statement Thursday, saying they have "mutually and amicably agreed to part company."

Trotter was in Germany on Thursday and couldn't be reached. Rochelle Smith, a spokeswoman, said, "There's no hard feelings. . . . There's no drama. We just really decided to just part ways."

"Charlie's a great guy, and he's built a great brand," said David Pisor, managing partner of the hotel, which opens in June. "Sometimes relationships don't work. It just didn't sync."

This would have been Trotter's second restaurant in Chicago. In addition to his namesake restaurant in Lincoln Park and a takeout shop, he owns restaurants in Las Vegas and Los Cabos, Mexico.

In November 2006, Trotter called the Elysian project "the right thing at the right time."

The hotel is going forward with its plans for two restaurants -- one upscale, one casual. "I'll be kicked out of the family if it's not really special," said Pisor, whose aunt is the famed Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.

Pisor said an announcement on a new chef is coming "shortly." One of the contenders is a Chicago chef, he said.