Blind Chef Brings Passion for Cooking to Trotter’s

Laura Mar­tinez pauses in kitchen before din­ner rush at Char­lie Trotter’s Restau­rant in Chicago.

Although Laura Mar­tinez can­not see she has per­se­vered always want­ing a bet­ter future. The State of Illi­nois’ Depart­ment of Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Ser­vices, one of the agen­cies for which I shoot, helped her through a vari­ety of chal­lenges and choices before, dur­ing and after her train­ing at Le Cor­don Blue, Col­lege of Culi­nary Arts. World famous Chef Char­lie Trot­ter hired Laura through a Chef cook­ing com­pe­ti­tion. He says she is an excep­tional worker, a great cook, a team mem­ber and brings value through her pro­fes­sion­al­ism to his restau­rant. Char­lie Trotter’s is another exam­ple of how part­ner­ships between the State and busi­nesses can lead to employ­ment for peo­ple with disabilities.