PETA joins chefs in mourning Trotter’s death

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is joining the nation’s top chefs in mourning the death of famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter.

PETA spokesman David Perle says Trotter was one of the first chefs to speak out against the consumption of foie gras and to stop serving it in his restaurants. According to Perle, Trotter made the decision after seeing how birds are forced-fed to grow their livers.

Trotter died Tuesday, a year after closing his namesake Chicago restaurant. The restaurant is credited with putting Chicago at the vanguard of the food world and training dozens of the nation’s top chefs, including Grant Achatz and Graham Elliot.

Trotter was found unconscious in his Lincoln Park home and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. An autopsy is planned for Wednesday.