JR Schoenfeld

JR’s background consists of graduating  from culinary school, studying food for the past 35 years and traveling the world to experience food in new ways.  Early in his career, he worked in all areas of restaurants being a Function/Banquet Captain, Sous Chef, Head Saute Cook, Garde Manger, Rounds Cook, Head Chef, Executive Sous Chef and Food & Beverage Manager at companies to include, The Canterbury Hotel in Indianapolis, The Denali National Park Hotel in Alaska, Sugarbush Inn, Edson Hill Manor and Mount Mansfield Company in Vermont.  He also ran the food service at Lambeau Field and worked as a contractual Executive Chef for PGA events, major concerts and VIP catering for Spectrum Events out of Houston before opening his first restaurant.

For the past 2 years, JR has created some of the best dining spots in Northeast Wisconsin.  Chives Restaurant in Suamico was his first.  Since then, he created and opened 8 others, some small operations, some larger, most of them successful and others not so successful but always taking a risk, sticking his neck out, trying new ideas, and loving every minute of it.  Each and every idea brought a new learning experience.

His mission is to always keep it simple, always use the freshest ingredients available.  Our staff consists of very talented customer oriented people; some who have helped JR develop Chives culinary path from the beginning and some are employees he worked with in previous kitchens. The entire staff at Chives is along for the next ride which makes for a great working environment.  Chives would not be what it is today without the talent and dedication of our staff.

As JR evolves, so has his family grown.  His 3 children are grown and the grandchildren keep him young.  Jessa, his oldest daughter is our head Baker in Fish Creek, baking delicious bread from scratch for both of our Door County locations. Nick, his oldest son and daughter in law, Charlotte purchased RYE Restaurant in Appleton.  Nick is the head chef and Charlotte is the General Manager with a heavy emphasis on coordinating events.  Lucas, his youngest son has .graduated as a Certified Sommelier and has created for us some spectacular wine lists but has moved to Willamette Valley, Oregon to pursue his passion for wine.  JR’s wife, Cindy, has dedicated herself to lead the office and bookkeeping departments for all his restaurants.

JR has two restaurants in Door County.  Chives In Baileys Harbor and Barringers in Fish Creek.  Chives Door County opened in 2014.  Looking to start settling a bit, JR and Cindy chose Door County to call home.  The building that Chives is located in captures the history of the small town of Baileys Harbor and character throughout.  It is the perfect setting for creating dishes utilizing the freshest ingredients available.  You will see our chef team planting seeds on the property and picking their vegetables from our very own greenhouse.  Chives prides itself on everything made from scratch.  From our bread to ice-cream, from our garden of vegetables and local ingredients, we are truly Farm to Table!

JR has made some changes to our offerings in outdoor dining.  We purchased the property next to Chives and created the food truck court serving delicious casual options with full bar service out of 2 different food trucks. JR now has two of them.  He has our “Farm to Truck” food truck specializing in house-made sausage sandwiches, grilled cheese, salad in a jar and Friday Fish Fry.  Our new pizza truck is an original 1945 Ford 1 1/2 ton commercial pick up with an artisanal wood fired oven on the back.  We make a variety of pizza, wood oven roasted food and salads from it.  Also, try Barringer’s Restaurant in Fish Creek for a remarkable steak house/supper club experience. www.BarringersDoorCounty.com