BARRINGER'S RESTAURANT - Key Persons

At 6'9" tall it is hard to miss Grant working at Barringer's. He started in the hospitality industry in 1999. He works year-round for us in Door County. Grant grew up in Chicago and now lives in Fish Creek with his 2 cats and enjoys fishing, drawing and art.

Hannah works the front of the house at Barringer's with ease. Hannah was born and raised on a farm in the LaCrosse area. She graduated from the University of California with a BA in Anthropology and spent time living and working in the Bay Area and Northern California. She returned to her Midwest roots to live in Door County. Her background has been an eclectic mix of retail, restaurants and farm management which has allowed her to develop her skills in people management. In her time off she enjoys traveling and hiking the parks and land trusts of beautiful Door County with her husband and trusty dog, Sampson.

Our desserts are a work of art! They are created from scratch by Janelle Jensen our Pastry Chef. Janelle started her career as a line cook in Door County in 2004. She quickly discovered her passion and creative flare for the pastry arts. In 2007, she graduated from The French Pastry School in Chicago. She has worked for The Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida, Petite Provence Bakery in Portland, Oregon and the JW Marriot/Ritz Carlton in Orlando, Florida to name a few. In 2020, she returned to Door County to join our team.

Jessa found her passion for baking several years ago. She worked at Breadsmith and Not By Bread Alone in Green Bay. She has also worked at the Bread Bank in Suamico and various coffee shops as a barista in the Green Bay area. All of our breads are made from scratch daily. Jessa uses a mixture of naturally leavened and lightly yeasted dough to create a diverse selection of variety in crust and crumb.

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 15 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 Nick's wife, Charlotte run our restaurant, RYE, in Appleton. Nick is the Head Chef and Charlotte is the Events Coordinator. Lucas, his youngest son has graduated as a Certified Sommelier and has created for us some spectacular wine lists and works in food & beverage at both of our Door County locations. JR's wife, Cindy, has dedicated herself to lead the office and bookkeeping departments for all his restaurants. Check out his newest hobby….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. You can enjoy food out of either of them at the Door County Brewing Co in Baileys Harbor or special events/caterings in the area.

Nick graduated from South East State University of Missouri with a BA degree in Dietetics. After school, he spent time in Michigan and started his career primarily in baking. His passion grew as he researched, analyzed, and tested recipes. Nick has worked at Ann Arbor Co-op in Michigan, Jolly Pumpkin in Michigan and Rye in Appleton. Today, you will find Nick as our Chef de cuisine at Barringer's. He enjoys mushroom hunting, learning about food, gardening, woodworking and nature.

Shawn worked in manufacturing for many years and his family played a major role in developing his love for the food and beverage industry. Over the years, Shawn has worked for several restaurants in Door County and has spent time traveling during the off-season to warmer climates including Costa Rica. He also lived in Slovakia and Romania with his wife, Christina, while she finished school. They have now become the proud parents of Leon born in 2017. Today, you will find Shawn as our head bartender at Barringer's in Fish Creek. He enjoys kite-surfing, paddle boarding, nature and maple sugaring.