Podcasts about trenchermen

Today’s guest has been working in Chicago beer for a long time now, but her journey is anything but typical, and it doesn’t follow a straight line at all.  Yes, she’s a home brewer who now has her own brewery. But here’s how the dots actually connect.  She started as a homebrewer, and was certainly thinking about opening a brewery some day. But her next step was the role of a beer buyer for Bangers & Lace, and Trenchermen, both favorite bars of mine in the city with great lists. Then she started her own coffee roaster and cafe, called 4 Letter Word…in Istanbul. As in, Turkey, bringing third wave origin coffees to a city with it’s own unique history in coffee. Then she returned to Chicago part-time to start a Chicago-based version of the coffee brand. And during all that, she was working on a brewery concept. Like, the whole time. And just this past week, the taproom for that brewery opened to the public, following her first cans getting on to the shelf.  The brewery is called Whiner Beer Co. ad it’s a partnership between herself and brewer Brian Taylor on Chicago’s southside. Their first beers, six pack of 12oz cans, are called Le Tub - a mixed fermentation, barrel-aged and blended sour saison for about twelve bucks. It’s a brave new world folks.  So between her coffee roaster and now getting Whiner off the ground, we wanted to catch up with Ria before she left for Kenya this week for a coffee sourcing trip. We have a great relationship with Whiner — we helped them workshop some things with the team back when the brewery was just a sparkle in her eye — some brand strategy elements that helped focus the concept. But more importantly, their first beer served was a coffee saison for Uppers & Downers this past February, which you can hear more about from our hangover party recording, episode number 72. And at the SCAA expo in Atlanta this past spring, her and I already started talking about this year’s Uppers & Downers as we tasted through some lactic fermentation coffees. Wacky stuff. 

At Trenchermen, good things come in pairs. With award-winning brothers Patrick and Michael Sheerin behind the unconventional menu, it’s easy to see why two heads are better than one at this venture. Chat Chow TV spoke with this spritely duo about how they’ve elevated comfort food to a new standard. “A lot of things that we do with our food has kind of taken stuff from what we’ve always found comforting and then trying to elevate it to a definitely creative and definitely a somewhat inventive way,” says Michael. And with so much innovative training under their sleeves, these brothers are delivering masterful, mouthwatering dishes (watch the video above to see why the Pickled Tots are one of the most reviewed and celebrated dishes in the joint). Patrick earned his cooking chops at fine establishments around Chicago (The Signature Room at the 95th and Four Seasons, to name a few). In the beginning, Michael followed suit, originally standing in as a morning butcher to Patrick’s pastry chef position at Toque. The two moved around the restaurant world, sometimes together and sometimes honing skills separately, until they found their way back to one another at Trenchermen, their first restaurant together. “We just wanted to create a restaurant that was at its core really fun, fun to be in, but from a food and service standpoint, more in the fine-dining realm,” explains Patrick. “There are two sides to it, where they’re dining on the one side and it’s still in the convivial and casual sense but it’s more of a dining experience. Whereas we have our a bar, a big, beautiful bar which […] definitely provides more of that convivial atmosphere. But like we said, it’s very warm, very inviting and for lack of a better term, sexy at night. Definitely the lights come down. The candles get lit and it’s kind of a great place to hang out.” So, pull up an antique barstool around the rich-wood, squared bar—the place’s central focal point—and enjoy a stirred-not-shaken Desperate Vesper (an ode to James Bond with Plymouth Gin, Lillet and Jeppson’s Malört) under the recycled green-glass hanging lanterns. Very sexy, indeed.

Join Indy rocker, Kelly Hogan, Black Ensemble Theater Artistic Director, Jackie Taylor, Art Collector, Howard Tullman and chefs Pat and Mike Sheerin of the Trenchermen, along with host Elysabeth Alfano, for the January 28th Dinner Party.

Check out the highlights! Join Indy rocker, Kelly Hogan, Black Ensemble Theater Artistic Director, Jackie Taylor, Art Collector, Howard Tullman and chefs Pat and Mike Sheerin of the Trenchermen, along with host Elysabeth Alfano, for the January 28th Dinner Party.

Join Indy rocker, Kelly Hogan, Black Ensemble Theater Artistic Director, Jackie Taylor, Art Collector, Howard Tullman and chefs Pat and Mike Sheerin of the Trenchermen, along with host Elysabeth Alfano, for the January 28th Dinner Party.

Check out the highlights! Join Indy rocker, Kelly Hogan, Black Ensemble Theater Artistic Director, Jackie Taylor, Art Collector, Howard Tullman and chefs Pat and Mike Sheerin of the Trenchermen, along with host Elysabeth Alfano, for the January 28th Dinner Party.