Charlie Trotter is an icon among chefs, but his path was unusual: he's a political science major who discovered after university that his true passion was for the palate, not politics. Based in Chicago, he's now written several best-selling cookbooks and his restaurant Charlie Trotter's has established itself as one of the finest in the world. His philosophy is to use only the purest ingredients, including organic produce. He's also taken an ethical stance against foie gras “ the production of which, he believes, involves cruelty to animals. His public stance resulted in the creation of a Chicago municipal law which now bans restaurants from serving it. It appears Charlie didn't abandon politics entirely, after all.