trotter's: The Experience

how does one begin? i suppose the entry is as good a place as any.

here is the view from our seat.

the chefs in action. note the clean white paper in the plating area - placed there to mimic the white tablecloths, so that they can see exactly how the plate will look on the table.

executive chef matt merges. you can tell he's at the top of the hierarchy by his lack of a toque.

i got to plate one of the dishes! i learned that to plate sauces, it works best to hold the spoon near the round part (rather than from the distal end of the handle), and flick your wrist just so.

some shots from the kitchen. they had the cutest little 1-cup size sauce pans - a whole array of them for each sauce for each delicately portioned dish.

here is the array of options for plate toppings.


here is one aisle of the red wine cellar. note the lack of a sharp corner.

the oldest bottle in the cellar is at the bottom of this picture; i think it was 1870? the most expensive is a 1945 bottle at the top of this picture. 35K.

the white wine cellar (one of the aisles).

a bottle rescued from a 1910s shipwreck. valued at a mere $10K.

the studio kitchen where his pbs specials were filmed. (can't figure out where and if i can still view these.)

the sauces inside one of his studio kitchen cabinets. love that you can see them all on this very shallow shelf.

happy anniversary :)