… grew up in Europe and the USA and traveled and worked around much of the world. Raised in a family real estate business in New York and studied history at Kenyon College, photography at R.I.T., producing at the European Film School in Denmark and Polish at Jagiellonian University. In the 1990s Schoenhals developed the first private media training centers in the former Soviet-bloc. His related Czernobyl works for the Ecology Channel evolved into a film career in Los Angeles, where he partnered with Dale Pollock at SONY Columbia TriStar and structured the biggest remake deal in European film history with Barry Sonnenfeld of “Men In Black” fame at Disney’s Hollywood Pictures. Simultaneously Schoenhals reinstalled himself in Europe to foster co-productions.
In 2000 Schoenhals was bitten by the restaurant bug and shifted focus to conceive, design, build and launch restaurants, bars and hotels. In recent years he began to design private residences, corporate and public spaces. He thoroughly researches historical, demographic and construction details in search of inspiration, with a penchant to incorporate subtle references naturally in his designs. Close participation during construction is necessary to satisfy his attention to detail. Historical Preservation Authorities laud Schoenhals’ approach to landmark buildings, while his vision and perseverance are credited with reviving prestigious neighborhoods such as Krakow’s Jewish Kazimierz District, Warsaw’s Nowy Swiat Boulevard and most recently the edge of Warsaw’s former Jewish Ghetto.
As founding co-owner of Sense Cafe, in 2002 he launched Poland’s first vodka bar and fusion restaurant, which remains from opening day one of Poland’s most successful restaurants. In 2006 Schoenhals’ KOM Restaurant & Wine Bar introduced the most comprehensive wine list and wine & food program in Poland. In 2008 he launched KomPassPort, a casual beach bar & grill with boat delivery concept for franchise. Beyond concept and design work, for each outlet Schoenhals project manages construction, creates cocktail and wine lists, develops and implements marketing materials and public relations activities and composes ambience with select visuals & sounds.
Schoenhals’ industry clients include California Wine Institute, Chopin Vodka, Coca Cola, Davidoff, Heineken, InterContinental Hotel, LVMH, Nokia, Orange, Pernod Ricard and Porsche. On professional wine & food pairings, he works with such luminary chefs and winemakers Gerhard Gartner, Paul Hobbs, Ernst Loosen, Egon Muller, Carlo Nerozzi, Dirk Niepoort, Camille Seghesio and Edi Simcic among others. His private clients include Willi Bogner, Jose Carreras, Willem DaFoe, Danny DeVito, Al Jarreau, Alicia Keys, John Malkovich, Roman Polanski, Bob Rafelson and Venus Williams.
Schoenhals is President of the EU Instituto del Cava Society in Poland and Board Member of RKO Pictures Hartley-Merrill. Member of numerous international juries, such as Robert Joseph’s International Wine & Spirit Challenge. Featured as producer, designer, restaurateur, food & drink expert in international media BBC, CNN, Elle, Figaro, Financial Times, Glamour, Imbibe, Irish Times, Lonely Planet, MTV, New York Times, Screen International, Stern, Town & Country, Variety and Wallpaper. Contributing cocktail and spirits writer for LOT Polish Airlines in-flight magazine. In 2008 as Brand Ambassador for Czech beer Pilsner Urquell published a book on food and beer pairing for industry experts. Most recently Schoenhals authored wine & food pairing material for National Geographic.
Please contact me re your bus. We are a winery, car and wine storage combined into a club located in Menlo Park. Would be interested in having your bus at our facility for lunch at lease 3 days per week and occasional diners.
winery – Woodside Vineyards
Buff Giurlani
(650) 533-3809
Hi Kai,
I have a weekly radio show in San Francisco on KUSF 90.3 FM. Please come and talk to us about your experience.
Zbyszek
czesc zbyszek, jestem teraz wpolsce. bede dopiero 26ego styczniu wsan francisco. na pewno spotykamy. moj tel europejski jest +48 601 366 767 i usa +1 415 755 7556. wszystkiego najlepszego, kai
Hi Buff,
This sounds gr8.
I’m in Warsaw for another week and then NYC and return to San Francisco January 26th. Can we meet then?
All the best,
Kai
Hi. Very nice Blog. Not really what i have searched over Google, but thanks for the information.
Fascinating bio. Rooted in the past, branching out in the present and creative visionary for building what has not been done yet in a multifaceted, multi-sensory fashion. One can appreciate your dialectic path.
I enjoyed our conversation at Fresca restaurant on Saturday February 13.
I have a couple of introductions for you when you have time.
P.S. Restaurants I enjoyed in Krakow (Kazimierz) – Starka at ul Jozefa 14,
Pepe Rosso (Italian) inside the Karmel Hotel, ul Kupa 15.
thanks for the nice note. it was a pleasure to meet you and hear stories of krakow.
i’m in town until the 2nd week of march, and then warsaw and dusseldorf for a few weeks.
i look forward to meeting you and your colleagues.
all the best,
Info emailed to Daniel