Featured Chef - Chef Don Schoenburg

Owner / Operator
The Lido Deck
Newport Beach, California

Chef Don Schoenburg hails from California, but finished high school at a military academy in New Mexico, a circumstance that he thinks enhanced an innate intensity. His first career in construction began right after graduation. Attacking his assignments with characteristic intensity, he mastered his job and everyone else’s.  He handily passed the test for his contractor’s license, and ran his own construction business for next ten years.

After a battering decade in the construction business, he decided to slow down and change careers. Drawing on his family’s cooking traditions and time spent in the kitchen with his mother and grandmother, he enrolled at California School of the Culinary Arts in Pasadena, where he found himself well ahead of other students in skills and experience. To optimize his time, he worked one-on-one with his chef instructors, and began to learn his most valuable culinary lessons.

Chef Schoenburg’s culinary resume lengthened quickly after graduation. Las Vegas was his first stop, where he clocked time at Gallagher’s Steakhouse, Nine Fine Irishmen (in the New York New York casino, and his first Sous Chef position), and in nearby Lake Havasu.

After two years in Nevada, Schoenburg moved to Florida to realize his dream of living in the Caribbean. In Orlando, he worked at Pisces Rising and racked up local accolades, including Best Restaurant in the Orlando area, Best Entrée, and Best Dessert.  Decamping to Key West with his wife, Pastry Chef Christi Carter, he opened and operated the Sugar Plum Fairy Bakery until Hurricane Wilma hit the island and destroyed the business.

He returned with his family to California, settling in Long Beach and into a job as executive chef at Tradition by Pascal in Newport Beach. Pascal’s provided a springboard to the kitchen at Leatherby’s, a Patina Group restaurant and an ideal showcase for his sophisticated, innovative style and flavor-driven food.

Chef Schoenburg’s latest leap is into his own operation: The Lido Deck in Newport Beach.  According to Don, good chefs intuitively know what customers like to eat, so the menu offers his favorite foods presented in his unique style.  A Slow Foods advocate, he buys his sustainable seafood, poultry and meats and artisan food products, and he sends his produce purveyor to the Santa Monica farmers market for the freshest seasonal ingredients, including liquid honey for salad dressings and baking and honeycomb for his signature cheese plates.  “Honey is one of man’s original pleasure foods, and one of the most versatile,” Schoenburg said.  “I use honey throughout my culinary repertoire, but I’m partial to the beauty and texture of honeycomb paired with cheese.”

Meyer Lemon-Orange Blossom Honey Vinaigrette

1/4 cup Meyer Lemon Juice (fresh squeezed)
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup Orange Blossom Honey
1 cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Fresh Thyme
Lemon Zest from lemons used for juicing
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Whisk lemon juice, vinegar, thyme and Dijon together in a bowl
2. Add Honey and whisk thoroughly
3. Slowly add olive oil
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add lemon zest. Let rest for 1 hour before use.

Cheese Plate with Honey Comb

Select assorted ripe cheeses ranging from soft ripe to aged.  Possibilities include:

• Dry Gouda
• Parmesan
• Tomme de Savoie
• Brie
• Humboldt Fog (California blue)
• St. Andre (triple cream)
• Chaumes
• Morbier

Serve with toasted walnuts, dried apricots and black mission fig chutney and sage blossom honeycomb.

We use Honeycomb from the Santa Monica’s Farmers Market that we have California Produce pick up for us. I use about 1 case (12 Each) per month. It is used for our cheese plate. I also use regular honey that I buy from California Produce as well, for baking and making all my salad dressings. I like the sweetness that the honey provides.