A Room with a view: Chef likes his place at the top of the Hancock

Patrick Sheerin is, literally, the top chef in Chicago. As executive chef of The Signature Room, way up on the 95th floor of John Hancock Center, Sheerin works in a kitchen dozens of stories higher than any other local restaurant's.

Recently named the towering, 320-seat eatery's head chef, Sheerin joined The Signature Room as a banquet chef in 2003.

Sheerin earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University's School of Hospitality Business and continued his cooking studies at the French Culinary Institute of New York in 1998. He honed his skills working in some of Chicago's top-rated kitchens.

A native of Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood, Sheerin; his wife, Julie, an educator; and their 4-year-old son, Jackson, live in Printers' Row.

What led you to become a chef? I grew up in a food-oriented family. My grandparents had a small piece of land in LaGrange and they had a huge garden. We were always eating vegetables my grandmother had frozen or tomatoes she canned. My grandmother worked in a restaurant and she would bring home baguettes and we'd have them with fresh tomatoes.

We had some friends who owned a restaurant, Shucker's, and I would work Taste of Chicago with them.

I've always enjoyed team sports. Cooking is, for sure, a team sport, because you rely on the people around you.

How did you get to the Signature Room? I did internships when I was in school and two of them were for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (which owns Everest). So I knew one of the chefs at Everest, and I wanted to have that four-star experience.

I was working pastry at Toque in the morning and nights at Everest. Later I worked at the Four Seasons at night and mornings at Naha. Those were pretty long years. I did that for almost four years.

At the Four Seasons, I wasn't into the hotel lifestyle (where staff members typically rotate around to different cities). I wasn't planning on going anywhere -- I live in Chicago.

So I had an opportunity to come over here, and I started as banquet chef and worked my way up the ranks.

How would you describe your culinary style? I prefer modern cuisine. I'd call my style "approachable modern food."

What do you mean by "modern"? Molecular gastronomy? We do use some of those elements. We try to make things consistent. We're open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, and I have 50 people in the kitchen. I want to make sure everything's consistent, so we adapt some of those techniques. For example, we cook our ducks sous vide (cooking at low temperature in a vacuum-sealed bag), so we get the breasts rare and then finish them to crisp the skin. But we try to stay approachable.

It's important to keep learning and pushing yourself.

Do you have favorite ingredients? We use a lot of agar-agar, which is a seaweed gelatin. That's been around 300 years. It takes a higher temperature than meat-based gelatin. I use it in sauces, like a hot vinaigrette. It doesn't break down. And in custard. Custard has a tendency to be … I don't want to say "heavy," but … cloying. The agar gives a rich, unctuous mouth-feel without that cloyingness.

I love garlic, too. And No. 1 would be salt -- we use kosher salt for cooking plus a collection of different finishing salts.

And smoked paprika. On my days off, I like to do a lot of barbecuing, smoking. I love that smoky flavor.

Does it bother you that people come to The Signature Room more for the view than the food? No. It did, when I started, because we do really nice food. Now, though -- we're a huge restaurant -- I need to get people in the seats before anything. We have people who request window seats. The windows are first come-first serve, and I see that, if customers don't get that window seat, even though the view is good from everywhere, their whole evening's affected, so we'd better be dead-on. I tell my guys on cloudy days, it better be just as good -- if not better -- because if the diners can't look out the window, they're going to be looking at their plates.

We take it with a grain of salt. We definitely lose some reservations on cloudy nights, but people still show up because they know we can accommodate them.

What changes are you making now that you're in charge? One of my focuses is to create a much more seasonal menu. Last year was the first year we've used co-ops and farmers' markets year-round. We use local produce pretty substantially, especially at dinner, even in the winter.

The farmers build hoop houses to extend the growing season. City Farm, here in the city, they're growing arugula in winter. A farmer in Wisconsin has spinach year-round. Around here, we grow so much different stuff, it's pretty amazing.

Tell us about this recipe. Borlotti Bean Soup With Hearty Greens. We get the beans at the Green City Market (in Lincoln Park). We always offer lobster bisque and a market-inspired soup, normally vegetarian or vegan -- although this would be absolutely delicious with some pork belly or pancetta, even smoked bacon if it's not too aggressive. Look for smaller, tender greens; simmer it longer if you get bigger ones.

Try this at home or at The Signature Room at the 95th, John Hancock Center, 875 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, (312) 787-9596 or (888) 2-DINE-95 or www.signatureroom.com.

Borlotti Bean Soup With Hearty Greens

3 pounds fresh fagioli borlotti (see note)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

About 3 cups water

5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced

½ pound mixed braising greens, such as Swiss chard, Tuscan kale (cavolo nero) and spigarello, preferably small, young leaves

1 pint small fresh tomatoes, halved

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, combine the fresh beans with the chopped carrots, onion, celery, 2 teaspoons of the olive oil and enough water to cover the beans by 1 inch. Bring almost to boiling, reduce the heat to low, partly cover the pot and simmer the beans until tender, about 25 minutes for fresh beans. (If using dry beans, combine the soaked, drained beans, water and oil and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender, adding the vegetables partway through the cooking period.)

In a small skillet, saute the garlic in the remaining olive oil until golden brown; add it to the cooked beans. (Add more water if necessary.) Bring to a boil, add the greens and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the soup to simmer 5 minutes, remove from the heat, add the tomatoes; season with salt and pepper.

Serves four.

Chef's notes: Bartolli beans are also known as cranberry beans or French horticultural beans. They have red streaks and may be available at farmers markets and green grocers. If you can't find them, use other fresh shell beans, pods removed, or dry beans, such as cannellini or pinto. If you use dry beans, soak them first: Cover the beans with cold water and let stand for 12 hours, or bring to a boil, cover and let stand off the heat for 4 hours. Drain, discarding the water.

Chef Patrick Sheerin, The Signature Room at the 95th, Chicago