Staff Meal Menu 01.12.15

It's Monday, its snowing and the temperature is dropping.

Nothing better to warm your soul than Soupe a l'oignon & Cassoulet

Check out tonight's full staff meal menu below

.Every Monday at the Trenchermen Bar Staff Meal

is served from 5:30-11pm. $20 for 3 Courses

Starters

- Buckwheat goat cheese fritters, beets, mustard vinaigrette

- Cauliflower a la grecque, white anchovies, ciabatta-

- French onion soup, beef broth, gruyere cheese, pumpernickel

Mains

- Cassoulet of duck confit, white beans & garlic sausage

- Toasted Grains with mushrooms and smoked almond

- Seared tuna nicoise, tomato confit, poached egg, greens,

potato & olive

Dessert

- Basque cake, candied kumquats

- Bieramisu

Valentine's Day 2015

This year we are offering a 4 course menu for all you lovebirds. Each course will have a choice of vegetable, fish or meat with options for vegetarian and vegan guests. Keep your eye on this page, we'll announce the full menu soon.

Trenchermen is for lovers

Call 773.661.1540 for Reservations

4 Courses $85/pp

NYE at the Trenchermen Bar

Before heading out to your New Year's party, drop by from 5:30 until 9pm for a special NYE edition of our $10 Wednesday Burger+Beer special: The Truffle Tremor Juicy Lucy with Tomato Bacon Marmalade & Arugula (NOT pictured), served with Solemn Oath's Kidnapped By Vikings American IPA - all for $10 (while they last).

Starting at 10pm we're accepting reservations for the bar. $30 gets you plentiful Trenchermen bar snacks, a sparkling toast at Midnight and seat at the bar.

Bar snacks include: The return of our BBQ Beef Jerky, Honey Mustard Corn Nuts,Goat Cheese Fritters with Lemon Aioli, Sour Cream & Onion Popcorn and Deviled Egg with White Anchovy and Pickled Celery.

NYE Reservations available only through the restaurant directly, call us at 773-661-1540

MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT

We're pleased to welcome renowned Chicago jazz musician Makaya McCraven & Friends for two sets of live music. For this special NYE performance at Trenchermen, prolific drummer/producer Makaya McCraven will be joined by kindred rhythmists Junius Paul (bass) & Justefan (vibraphone). The group will reinterpret thoughts & themes from McCraven's forthcoming album In the Moment, due to be released January 20, 2015 by International Anthem.

DJ King Hippo and Ron Mahogany will keep the party rolling early into 2015. These two talented DJs have performed at some of Chicago's most notable venues - Danny's, The Charleston, Rodan and Sportsman's Club, just to name a few...

Menu Classique Monday, December 22, 2014

We couldn't be happier that we've gotten a new CTA station at Damen and it's finally reopened.  Making it all that much easier to stop by and see us Monday night.  That's us right across the street, waiting for you.  

We continue our exploration of dishes that make up classic French cooking.  We're working this week on nuances, the origination of classic combinations and coaxing flavors out of seemingly nothing.  

We butcher a lot of beef at Trenchermen and it's about utilizing the "trim", what a lot of people would throw out we use to create something delicious.  The bones, sinew, cartilage and some of the fat from butchering beef has been roasted, pressure cooked, clarified and repeated to make a beautiful consomme we're serving with beef cheek tortellini.  We're finishing with root vegetables that have been cut into brunoise and lightly pickled, a little sliced beef tongue and fresh herbs to finish.  

This week we're making sauce Normande.  We'll be using fish bones, mussel stock and cider to make the broth, reducing it to a glaze and monteur au buerre to finish.  We'll slowly poach the cod in some of the butter sauce and finish with peeled and blanched celery, celery root, fresh sliced apples, cutting celery, lovage a light lemon vinaigrette.  Nuance will be important so that all of the texture aren't the same, yet it's not a raw, overly acidic counterpart that battles a delicate butter sauce. 

Beef bourguignon, "one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man." (Julia Child), is an amazing dish.  We're using beef shanks from Dowden Farms in Indiana.  Roasted whole and braised with red wine and aromatics, until just tender, we let them cool of in their juices and then clean them up, while reducing the braising liquids to a beautiful glaze.  Local cremini mushrooms and cippolini onions finish.  

Creme brulee when done right is a thing of beauty, we're pretty sure you'll feel the same way after dipping in to ours with some crispy palmiers.

starters:

• hearts of palm, greens, buckwheat goat cheese beignets, Dijon vinaigrette
• smoked salmon, brioche, horseradish cream
• Beef consommé, beef cheek tortellini, fine herbs, brunoise

entrees:

• Beef bourguignon, cremini mushrooms, cippolini onions
• Grains dish; toasted oats and sprouted lentils with chanterelle mushrooms
• Slow cooked cod Normande, celery, apples, butter

Dessert:

• creme brûlée, palmiers
• Bier a misu

New Years at Trenchermen

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN THE DINING ROOM

Still waiting to make your New Year's Eve plans? Look no further, Trenchermen is here for you. Whether you're looking for a nice meal before the big party, a grand dinner to ring in 2015, or a more casual night at the bar, we have all the bases covered.

Pre-Party Early Menu $55/per person 5:30-8:15pm (Wine Pairing $25)
Amuse: Pickle Tots, Red Onion Yogurt, Herbs
1st: Charred Tuna, Sesame Ajo Blanco, Preserved Eggplant, Kohlrabi, Shiso
2nd: Wagyu Brisket "Pot Roast", Heirloom Potatoes, Root Vegetables, Truffle
Dessert: Vanilla Pavlova, Quince, Mulled Wine Poached Pears, Chestnut Cream

New Year's Eve Tasting $85/per person 8:45-10:15pm (Wine Pairing $35)
Amuse: Pickle Tots, Red Onion Yogurt, Herbs
1st: Sesame Shrimp, Crab Cocktail, Avocado, Remoulade
2nd: Seared Foie Gras & Quail, Wild Garbanzo "Caldo Gallego", Kale Pistou
3rd: 28 Day Aged NY Strip, Wagyu "Pot Roast", Potato, Root Vegetables, Truffle
Dessert: Vanilla Pavlova, Quince, Mulled Wine Poached Pears, Chestnut Cream

Plus a Midnight toast of fine French bubbles!

As always, we're happy to accommodate dietary restrictions. We also will offer special menu for vegetarians and vegans!

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NYE Reservations available only through the restaurant directly, call us at 773-661-1540

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NEW YEAR'S EVE AT THE TRENCHERMEN BAR

From 5:30 until 9pm we're running a special NYE edition of our Wednesday Burger+Beer special: The Truffle Tremor Juicy Lucy with Tomato Bacon Marmalade & Arugula, served with Solemn Oath's Kidnapped By Vikings American IPA - all for $10 (while they last).

Starting at 10 we're accepting reservations for the bar. $30 gets your a seat, plentiful Trenchermen bar snacks and a sparkling toast at Midnight.

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MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT

On New Year's Eve we're pleased to welcome renowned Chicago jazz musician Makaya McCraven & Friends for two sets of live music. For this special NYE performance at Trenchermen, prolific drummer/producer Makaya McCraven will be joined by kindred rhythmists Junius Paul (bass) & Justefan (vibraphone). The group will reinterpret thoughts & themes from McCraven's forthcoming album In the Moment, due to be released January 20, 2015 by International Anthem.

DJ King Hippo and Ron Mahogany will keep the party rolling early into 2015. These two talented DJs have performed at some of Chicago's most notable venues - Danny's, The Charleston, Rodan and Sportsman's Club, just to name a few. .

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NEW YEAR'S DAY BRUNCH

We're also here to help get you back on your feet on New Year's Day with a special edition of Brunch. We'll be open from 11-3pm with the full compliment of Trenchermen brunch dishes to make sure 2015 starts off right.

Reservations available directly at 773-661-1540 or through OpenTable