R.I.P. Jovan Trboyevic

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/ ... -away.html

Always sorry to say the giants go. I have such fond memories of his restaurants.

Le Perroquet was so special, at a time when there really was no other true fine dining in Chicago. Greeting the host on the ground floor, riding that TINY elevator up, walking in to the dining room with its traditional classic decor, it was like being transported to Paris.

This photo appeared in the Tribune's 2008 valentine to "Long Gone Restaurants":

Some of you may remember my work as restaurant critic at WBBM Newsradio 780. I started in August 1971, and ended my broadcast reviews in September, 2008. Management cited budget issues. I really did not object, because I was getting burned out. I still review one restaurant a month in North Shore Magazine, instead of the 6 or 7 a month which was my previous combined load. Now, I have plenty of time to enjoying dining without responsibilities of reviewing.

With that self introduction out of the way, I want to express my deep saddness at the death of Jovan. Phil Vettel's column captured the man and restaurateur exactly as I knew him. Though my reviews were anonymous, obviously that went aside at Les Nomades. But, it was a "private club" at the time, and not something I would review. So, I could simply go, enjoy the great food and service, as well as Jovan's conversation and often ribald stories. He was a master of them!

I also remember a story about Jovan told to me by another well known restaurateur, Gordon Sinclair. He was one of many who made it a point to visit Les Nomades in the remaining days before Jovan turned it over to Mary Beth and Roland Liccione. Gordon was in the upstairs Tea Room admiring the ceiling fixtures and chandeliers. "Where did you get these?, he asked. Jovan, as only Jovan could, answered, "I tell you nothing! You steal everything!"

Jovan was tendentiously independent. He knew exactly what he wanted in a restaurant, and how to get it, from his marvelous Serbian Army Bread, to the final excellence of dessert. I think he had the first, and what may have been the only zinc bar in Chicago at Les Nomades.

Not many people may know this, but Jovan was brought into Chicago by the late Burton Brown, founder of The Gaslight Club. As some of you who have been around awhile may recall, Jovan's first restaurant was on Huron Street across from The Gaslight, at least I remember it that way....

The love of his life, was of course his wife, Meg. She was the perfect foil for a man who was always the perfect gentleman and host, but who would not tolerate anything he considered less than perfect behavior by any of his guests at any of his restaurants.

We have a few excellent restaurateurs today. But, none that I know of can bring to the table, the understanding of perfection as did Jovan Trboyevic.

Sherman Kaplan

Thanks for a very nice remembrance.

I believe the zinc bar went to Bistrot Zinc (hence the name) on Southport, which is now an Irish bar (Mystic Celt); no idea if it's still in there, incongruously given the theme.

As a glutton, who at least pretends to have brains, Le Perroquet was my first introduction to all the pleasures of really really fine dining. I saved for months, back in 1977, to have my first glorious meal. I also recall, that even as wild haired 20 somethings, we were still treated with the same respect as the other guests, as we did exhibit perfect behavior. Our wonderful City was blessed with his presence here.

I'm sad that we have lost such a great man and at the same time a bit disappointed that so many stories written in both the press and on the web have been focusing too much on his rare expressions of reject towards some customers who had not the faintest clue about what the standards of this very stylish, and perfectionist, restaurateur were all about.
He was neither arrogant, snobbish, or haughty, but simply in a permanent search of precision, innovation, and perfection. To summarize he hated anything mediocre, vulgar, or phony, both in his personal and professional life. And God knows how much phoniness was still too common in the so-called "French" restaurant scene in Chicago in 1967 when he opened Jovan on Huron. That authentic French restaurant was perhaps the first to have a total respect for high quality products, and most of the time he was doing his own buying at the market and introduced recipes, quite often based on unusual vegetables, fish, and cuts of meat, that until now had been absent in the Chicago restaurant landscape. This search for innovation and extreme precision, in both the cuisine and the management of the dining room, was expanded when he opened Le Perroquet on Walton in 1972. In fact I would say that Jovan was the first restaurateur to bring and even improve the ways of cooking and presenting food of La Nouvelle Cuisine in France to Chicago. In some ways he played as important a role in renovating French cuisine in the Midwest as Henri Soulé did in New York in the late 40's. James Villas mentioned that comparison in a very vibrant tribute to Jovan in his book Villas At Table.
It is true that Jovan was very attached to certain European traditions, both having an important impact on the behavior of people working in the kitchen and in the dining room, as well as of the customers. He was very demanding as far as respecting them was concerned. After all, even though he loved this country, he remained all his life a European himself, who had an incredible rich portfolio of personal contacts with so many important and "real" celebrities of the high society in most European capitals. He also had been trained in one the best Cooking and Hotel Management schools of Europe in Lausanne, Switzerland, and worked in some very classy establishments.
No wonder that the idea of running a mediocre place for the average Joe, just to make a few bucks, was not exactly his American dream.
And it is true that , for the same reason that he was always very demanding of himself, he was expecting a lot from his staff, to the point of being sometimes considered by them as being a tough boss. But he was in fact at the same time a very tolerant and generous human being. And many cooks, some of them quite famous in this town, and waiters who worked in one of his restaurants could testify that they learned a lot from him.
I remembered the pleasure I had, in the early seventies, when I was sitting at a table on the South side of the room at Le Perroquet, and therefore facing the entrance of the restaurant were he standed and managed everything from there, to observe his very minimal facial expressions and gestures to direct a busboy, waiter, or his somelier, the very good Gerard Nespoux, to a table where he had noticed that a customer looked either perplexed, or missing something. He reminded me of Pierre Boulez directing a French piece.
And his most gracious way to welcome you was unique.
That genial and so friendly conviviality was even more comforting in the early days of Les Nomades where I always had my birthday celebration at the same table, just next to the famous French zinc bar that was too voluminous for the size of the waiting room and later ended up at Bistrot Zinc on Southport. These memorable dinners, where some of simply perfect bistro dishes that I prefered like a lamb stew or a cassoulet were served, always ended up with a bottle of excellent Calvados and a great conversation when he sat down with us and shared his incredible memories and sense of humor.
And the atmosphere at this intimate super-bistrotclub that had been so seductively entirely decorated by his talented artist-wife, was completely relaxing.
What a marvelous memory I will keep of that extraordinary man who led an extraordinary life.

Thanks for sharing those memories of Chef Trboyevic. One of my big regrets is not dining at Le Perroquet when it was the most exciting restaurant in Chicago. Although it was really beyond my means back then, I often thought about saving my pennies and going for an extravagant lunch.

If you haven't already, be sure to read the full obituary that Phil Vettel wrote (the link in this thread's first post is to an abbreviated blog entry).

Does anyone know what years Phil Vettel was cooking at Le Perroquet?

Speaking of Phil Vettel:
He seems to imply in his obituary-article that Le Perroquet was opened in 1973.
As far as I remember, and from my own conversations with Jovan T., I think that it was in 1972.
But that was a long time ago and I may be wrong.
It does not matter much anyway.

alain40 wrote:Speaking of Phil Vettel:
He seems to imply in his obituary-article that Le Perroquet was opened in 1973.

He seems to do more than imply it.

In The Stew, Phil Vettel wrote:After Jovan came Le Perroquet, which Trboyevic opened in 1973 and became the restaurant that defined him as chef and restaurateur.

alain40 wrote:As far as I remember, and from my own conversations with Jovan T., I think that it was in 1972.

You are correct, Le Perroquet opened in late 1972.

In the Chicago Tribune of 14 Dec 1972, Kay Loring wrote:If the present exquisite quality continues, Le Perroquet, on the third floor at 70 E. Walton Pl., promises to become known by dedicated diners as one of the country's finest restaurants—if not one of the world's finest. Its opening last month is among the high points, in this reviewer's opinion, in a restaurant renaissance that has been going on in Chicago the last several years.

Rene G wrote:Does anyone know what years Phil Vettel was cooking at Le Perroquet?

While looking up information on the restaurant, it became apparent I was incorrect that Phil Vettel had been employed at Le Perroquet. Here is the source that confused me (from Chicago's 100 Menus for 1986 edited by Carla and Allen Kelson).



In fact, the chef at Le Perroquet in the mid-1980s was Philippe Wettel. At that time Phil Vettel was already writing for the Tribune. Sorry for the mistake.

Hi,

I never went, though I heard many stories of others visits to his restaurants.

At The Parrot Cage restaurant at the South Shore Country Club, there are stained glass windows from Le Perroquet. You can see them used as room dividers in the picture nsxtasy linked to.

Regards,

Wait a minute... look at the picture of Phillippe Wettel and then imagine him without the big black mustache.

Could this mean that the international jewel thief Le Perroquet and Phil Vettel are... one and the same?