Charlie Trotter Auction Commences, With Trotter Throwing People Out

Looks like all sorts of shenanigans happened yesterday at the Charlie Trotter auction; Chicago Tribune's Mark Caro was kicked out of the auction room, possibly for angering the chef for a profile back in August.

Then, a Chicago Sun-Times photographer was removed by an assistant, reportedly for taking photos of Trotter's kitchen on Wednesday. Even the auctioneer was schooled by the renowned chef, who took on the bidding himself. "Enough," Trotter said. "Do you guys even know what this is? Of course you don't."

The Sun-Times reports that Trotter himself sold the items, chastising the audience if they didn't want to bid too high. "Just so you know, the frames alone are worth like $250, let alone an original image," Trotter said of a couple of photographs. "Are you kidding me? I mean, I'll f***ing buy them myself, together."

On the bright side, a couple of culinary pieces won't be sold via auction, but left for the potential buyer of the restaurant space. As for other chefs in the area, the Sun-Times spotted Matt Kirkley and Nick Janutol from L20, bidding on items for personal use.

And if you thought Trotter was heartless for letting everything go, here's proof that he actually had a hard time putting things up for auction. "I kept on taking down special menus, silverware," he said. Just remind us never to cross him.