A mural depicting Chief Schenevus hangs on the walls of the restaurant bearing the American Indian chief’s name. The new owners, William Dorvillier and his wife, Monika Wiechowska, completely gutted and renovated the historic building at 93 Main Street in Schenevus.
The couple also retained the name of the restaurant which operated for 39 years under different owners. Most locals call it “The Chief.” Dorvillier will be replacing The Chief’s signage on Route 88 to alert travelers to use exit 18 to refuel and have a bite to eat.
The family-run restaurant serves locals, tourists and highway traffic.
Dorvillier said he wants to make The Chief a destination restaurant for travelers visiting Cooperstown, Cherry Valley, Hobart, Delhi and Oneonta. In the past 20 years, since buying a second home in Schenevus as a “get away from our city life,” the couple has explored the area and purchased four buildings in Schenevus.
“We made a commitment to this community,” Dorvillier said of the journey that started in 2007.
They invested $500,000 in purchasing the restaurant building and buying all new kitchen equipment, installing all new floors, lighting and restoring it to its original condition, Dorvillier said.
“The building is the only one of its kind” in the area, he said. “It has two, huge cast iron columns and limestone.”
The dairy industry brought a lot of money to this area of upstate New York. “Butter from Delaware County was served at the White House, at Harvard and at Yale during pre-expansionism,” Dorvillier said.
As an architectural metal fabricator, Dorvillier has built many restaurants in New York City and always wanted to create a “cool, cozy, comfortable gathering place” of his own, he said.
The newly renovated Chief Schenevus Restaurant, doing business as “The Chief,” officially opened almost two years ago. It had a “grand reopening” on Memorial Day weekend after building a team of five key employees in addition to family. Jessica Demby manages the front of the house, Adam Cooper manages the kitchen and is assisted by a line cook and two wait staff.
Dorvillier said he found “the right people,” who work as a team and all have positive attitudes. “My wife is a fantastic baker,” he said. She made strawberry cheesecake for the grand reopening. Cookies, pies and carrot cake with cream cheese honey frosting are other specialties she bakes from scratch.
They grind their coffee beans for fresh coffee. A single-origin, organic, French press coffee is available along with medium-roast Colombian.
“We completely revamped the menu,” Dorvillier said. “Our menu has six items.” A burger, a chicken sandwich, chicken Caesar salad, pizza, pancakes and a breakfast sandwich are the main choices. A Reuben sandwich and grilled cheese on fresh sourdough bread are sometimes offered as specials.
They have a kids’ menu which includes Nutella pizza topped with strawberries.
“We are moving away from the diner (concept) into a cafe … a place for people to gather and eat great food,” Dorvillier said. “We applied for a liquor license and should have it by early fall.”
Currently, The Chief is open for breakfast and lunch, Thursday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Once it gets its liquor license, plans are to open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.
Julia Dorvillier, the daughter of the owners, works as a waitress at The Chief during the summer. Their son, Jakub Dorvillier, is still in high school, but could become a future pizza maker for the restaurant.
For more information, visit www.instagram.com/chiefschenevus.