Cover Story: Mike Holmes and the Evolution of Door County
For more than a decade, Mike Holmes has helmed some of Door County's top dining destinations. Now, as he looks to sell his James Beard-nominated Wickman House, he's looking forward to what's next.
Welcome to the weekend! We continue our exploration of Door County, Wisconsin this week. Here’s what you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:
Cover Story: The James Beard-nominated Wickman House in Ellison Bay has developed a devoted following. Owner Mike Holmes is now imagining what’s next in 2024.
Weekend Reading List:
Featured Destination: A Sister Bay shop with standout sandwiches.
Featured Field Guide: Download our Field Guide to Door County, a 20-page dining guide featuring all our restaurant and bar recommendations.
ELLISON BAY, WIS. — Our first visit to Wickman House was a quick one — we were on a hastily plotted Wisconsin fall weekend trip in 2015 that included a night in Green Bay, a day admiring the leaves in Door County, and a night in Milwaukee. While in Green Bay, we ran into an acquaintance who asked us if we were going to dinner at the Ellison Bay restaurant the next night — we said no, since we had a dinner reservation in Milwaukee. He urged us to reconsider.
We were grateful that he did — we arrived at open the next evening and sat at the bar, where we had cocktails, oysters, and some small plates before heading down state. But we knew from the wonderful cocktails and food, the warm service from owner Mike Holmes and his team, and the beautiful now 100-plus-year-old building, that Wickman House was something special and that we’d come back again. And we did so repeatedly, including on a memorable New Year’s Eve trip, often planning visits to Door County with the thought, “It’s been too long since we went to Wickman.”
Now, we’re hoping to try and squeeze in one more trip — last week, Holmes put the property up for sale. When I called Holmes a few days later to talk about the sale and what’s next, I got off the phone feeling less sad about not being able to plan more weekends around dinner at Wickman and more excited to see what he does next.
For Holmes, 12 years was time enough, and now he’s ready to explore other interests. “I’m there all the time, and it’s not allowing me to do the other stuff I’m passionate about in hospitality and in life,” he says. “I want to work on a cocktail book and tell the story of Wickman House and tell the story of what I believe in in hospitality, and talk about things and tell funny stories,” he says. “I want to do some consulting. I’m planning on staying here full time in Door County, but I want to be free enough to travel and see friends in different cities.”
But this doesn’t mean he’s getting out of Door County hospitality. First, the good news is that there are at least two-and-a-half more months to visit Wickman. “Right now, I’m just running it as-is,” Holmes says. “Whatever happens won’t be before the end of the year.” He’s also selling the property but not the business, which leaves the door open for doing something else with Wickman House down the line.
The other good news: He’s going to keep Wickman’s sister restaurant, Trixie’s, which is in downtown Ephraim and focuses on natural wines and internationally influenced dishes made with local ingredients. Holmes is planning to run the restaurant unchanged for the next year or so, then evolve it into something else. “It will be similar to Trixie’s, but it will be the culmination of all the years prior and where we’re going to go,” he says, noting that he sees a potential partnership with a chef at that new restaurant. “I think that one of the great things about Trixie’s is its size; it’s very manageable,” Holmes says. “When I think about reconcepting it, I think about how Wickman was built around me being at the bar shaking drinks, which is what I wanted to do at the time. Now I know I want to be there a lot and be fully involved, but it makes a lot more sense sustainability-wise to not just have one face. I want to keep everything very advanced but at the same time execute it in a way that’s sustainable for everybody. I don’t know the next turn of what Trixie’s will look like, but it’s so important that it’s a team effort and that the passion of everybody shines through.”
When Wickman House opened in 2012, it was the first place in Door County that was doing serious cocktails and farm-to-table fare. “When we opened, we wanted to be a bar-centric farm-to-table restaurant celebrating Wisconsin and also bringing the craft of cocktails to a place that didn’t have it,” he says. But over the past decade, Holmes has seen “an evolution of dining in Door County.”
“Everyone has stepped up their game; it’s a great food destination,” he says. “It’s cool to see all these things popping up, and places that have been there for a long time rethink their ideas. I think it’s attracted a much broader base of people that come up. I remember our first couple years, saying we should reach out to this hotel and that shop and say, ‘If you stay open, we’ll stay open.’ Flash forward to now, Door County is a year-round destination. It slows down a little in the fall and winter, but not like it used to.”
That increased dining base has put Wickman House on more people's radars, including the James Beard Foundation. Earlier this year, Wickman was nominated for the Outstanding Restaurant award, which goes to a restaurant open at least five years that “demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality, and operations while contributing positively to its broader community.”
“It means everything,” Holmes says of the nomination. “It was a huge goal of mine and to be nominated in that category was so special because it’s all the hard work of all the people over the years and what we created together. Our chef team has been so strong and they’re young and that for their resume is huge, that for our future together is huge. It meant that hiring was finally easier and retention was easier — it changed the whole thing.”
The well-deserved nomination feels like the right way to close out Wickman House’s current chapter. “I love what we’ve built and I’m really excited for the next phase of everything and for our staff and what they’re going to do,” Holmes says. “I’m hoping as many of us can stay together and do our next thing together; we’ve had such a rewarding 12 years together.”
11976 Mink River Rd, Ellison Bay, WI 54210
Palmetto Classics: Writing in Garden & Gun,
shares her list of 10 must-try South Carolina dishes. You’ve probably had shrimp-and-grits and maybe a Lowcountry boil, but have you had country captain or seafood purloo?It’s In The Bag: If you are looking for some new luggage ahead of the holiday travel season, Condé Nast Traveler has an exhaustive guide to their favorite carry-on bags and checked suitcases. (We’re partial to Away’s line of luggage. They’re lightweight, durable, and the wheels roll like butter.)
Cruising through Block Island Sound: In the New York Times, writer Karen Angel and photographer Tony Cenicola take a few days to explore Block Island, where they found wildlife preserves, plenty of walking trails, and a food truck serving warm doughnuts to hungry hikers.
Wisconsin Cheeseheads
SISTER BAY, WIS. — Jesse and Rachael Johnson have a goat dairy farm and sell goat-milk based products — not to mention all kinds of local culinary treats and gifts — at Door County Creamery, a small restaurant and shop in downtown Sister Bay. Jesse makes chevre in a variety of flavors that reflect the region, from lingonberry to wild ramp to smoked whitefish. The shop offers baguettes, olives, chutneys, and more to round out a local cheese plate. We’re fans of the sandwiches; try the BLT with pecan-smoked bacon, sliced cherry tomatoes, arugula, aioli, and brick cheese wrapped up in a piece of naan. The shop also features goat cheese gelato in flavors like roasted almond and fig or raspberry panna cotta, so grab some pints to stock your rental or to enjoy while strolling along the water.
10653 N Bay Shore Dr, Sister Bay, WI
You can find all of our picks in our Field Guide to Door County, a 20-page digital dining guide formatted for your phone. During the month of October, paid subscribers can snag a complimentary download on our website — just use the code CHERRYPIE at checkout.
We’ll be back next week. Want more? Follow us on Instagram @americanweekender.
