Michael and Patrick Sheerin / Trenchermen

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.

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