Farm & Forest
We celebrate the rural landscape of Door County by foraging, growing and sourcing ingredients which in turn play a major role in our menu development.
We know that good food is good medicine, to eat well is to be well.
Door County Underground is brought to you by owners Matt Chambas & Jamie Mead. We believe in the communal bond of bringing chefs, farmers, and the many ranges of local craftspeople together through food & dining experiences. We are committed to showcasing the bounty of our peninsula. The ingredients we feature across our menus are grown in our own organic garden and in those of local gardeners and farmers on the peninsula, as well we dedicate many hours in the woods of Wisconsin to include our specialty foraged ingredients in our dinners, a little love from our baskets to your belly.
We strive to curate intimate settings that allow us to be bold in our creativity with food and ambiance. We thrive on a structure that promotes our team to balance personal & working lives, keeping the spark behind our food going strong.
We are lucky to call this gorgeous place home. We hope every dish you taste gives you a sense of awareness and recognition of the abundance we are surrounded by.
Who we are
Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin Matt Chambas developed his appreciation for sourcing ingredients locally at a young age. His mother’s passion for cooking and baking instilled in him a love of from-scratch cooking. His work with the Chapolard family on their organic ‘seed to sausage’ pig farm in Gascony and Kate Hill of Relais de Camont in Agen, France were early foundations. The two locations' principles were inspirational and would later serve him well.
His classical training came by way of working alongside Chef Tory Miller of L’Etoile and Chef Shinji Muramoto of Muramoto in Madison, Wisconsin. Matt was sous chef for two years and executive chef for three years of Wickman House in Ellison Bay, as well as executive chef of Trixie’s in Ephraim for their first season. Matt has maintained a healthy obsession with foraging & wild crafting for many years; ingredients that fall into place on his menus as the seasons offer up their forest harvest.
A Door County native, Jamie Mead was raised behind the scenes of her family business The Shoreline Restaurant in Gills Rock. Following the footsteps of her parent’s culinary enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit, their influence gave her the same drive to share with others a passion for food + culture. Alongside her father in the kitchen & her mother in front of house she attuned to the rhythms of sustenance & hospitality.
Her BFA training in fine arts from Peck School of the Arts is visible through the photography & design featured across the DCU portfolio. Jamie leads the communications, marketing, and behind the scenes organization of Underground.
Outside of DCU, Jamie works in the healing arts as a certified vinyasa yoga & pilates instructor and sound healing practitioner. She offers monthly Resonance Sound Healing experiences and weekly movement classes at Ironwood Yoga Studio in Sister Bay.
See our calendar for both Underground + Resonance Sound Healing offerings.
In the off season, the two can often be found exploring the world in search of fresh approaches to the language of food, expression, creativity, & new foraging spots.