(Crain's) — It looks like Charlie Trotter's luck has run out in Las Vegas, as the celebrity chef has closed the namesake restaurant he opened two years ago in the Palazzo Las Vegas hotel and casino.
Restaurant Charlie and Bar Charlie went dark on Friday after five months of debate, said Rochelle Smith Trotter, Mr. Trotter’s wife and publicist.
Mr. Trotter and the restaurant's partners had considered rebranding the 120-seat Restaurant Charlie and its 18-seat Bar Charlie sushi bar, but decided against straying from the high-end concept that Mr. Trotter is known for.
Restaurant Charlie opened in March 2008 to cater to the Palazzo's high-end, international guests and was a hit with some critics. It garnered one Michelin star — an international one-to-three-star rating of excellence — in 2009 and its chef, Vanessa Garcia, was recently named a James Beard Foundation semifinalist for rising star chef of the year.
But it wasn't long after Restaurant Charlie's grand opening that the economy slammed on the brakes.
"We just no longer had the traffic to justify the offering in the Palazzo property," Ms. Trotter said. "It was really a function of, can we sustain it and how long can we sustain it for?"
Mr. Trotter, who was recently married in the Maldives, continues to operate his eponymous restaurant in Lincoln Park.
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