If you've seen Charlie Trotter on TV, you would want to go his restaurant, unfortunately, the reservation is hard to get and the price to dine in is $200 per person. However, in this place, located in the west part of Lincold Park, you would be able to buy a taste of Charlie's food. They sell a lot of mixed ingredient for his recipe, dressing, jams etc. A short cut to get to taste his cooking without spending too much. Parking is also not as hard as in his restaurant.

My first visit was well worth it, the food was unique and portions were quite nice -- duck pasta ($6), apricot chicken salad ($6), garlic-infused mashed potatos ($4) and a honey semolina cake thingy ($4). I will go again simply because I cannot get such a unique variety of food at Jewel or Dominick's. With that said, Whole Foods offers identical food quality for slightly less money than Trotter's To Go, but you pay for the gourmet tricks. PS - I heard the sandwiches were overpriced, but a $6 English Tea Smoked Salmon Sandwich doesn't sound expensive to me (and it was very good!)
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New Visit 5/15/2009

I went there again and their selections are going downhill fast. Curried cauliflower for $9.00/lb? Uh huh. They had no sandwiches around 3PM, all vegetable dishes I could make by accident (corn and bell peppers?) and somehow, their desserts are still pretty good. I mean, desserts take a lot of work to prepare, so they're the only thing I found worth $5.00+ per package. Otherwise, it just seems buying some good treats at Whole Foods is the one way to get exactly what you want without a feeling of being ripped off by a 'fancy' to-go type place like Trotter's. Low quality is depressing when you expect the best.

this is definitely not for your everyday cooks. it's more like a boutique, with a few fancy-labeled products on the shelves, and a very few premade sandwiches and such in a cooler. better for impressive gourmand gifts than practical cooking types.