Lisa Schroeder is a mother,
grandmother, chef and restaurateur devoted to providing
better-than-authentic renditions of traditional home-cooked favorite
dishes in her two Portland restaurants, Mother’s Bistro & Bar and Mama Mia Trattoria.
In 1992, while simultaneously working full-time in marketing,
catering on the side and raising her daughter, Lisa concluded that what the world really needed was a place
which served “Mother Food” – slow-cooked dishes, such as braises and
stews, made with love. From that moment on, Lisa was determined to
open such a restaurant and spent the next eight years working toward
that dream.
Lisa soon gave up her business career and enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America. While there, she was selected as one of the Top Ten Student Chefs in America by Food and Wine Magazine.
After graduating with honors in 1995, she continued honing her skills
at two four-star restaurants in New York City — Lespinasse and Le Cirque.
Her education continued with apprenticeships in Provence, France, at
Roger Vergé’s Moulin des Mougins, and at Mark Veyrat’s L’Auberge de
L’Eridan in Haute Savoie. In addition to this invaluable training, she
toured France, Italy, Spain, Morocco and Switzerland where she gained
an understanding of regional cuisine and indigenous products, affirming
her belief that some of the best regional meals are not found in
restaurants, but in homes, made by mothers.
Searching for a new beginning, Lisa returned to the states and
relocated to Portland, Oregon in 1998. She was the Chef at Besaw’s
Café for two years while continuing to plan her restaurant-to-be;
gathering and testing recipes, refining her menu, and planning her
décor whenever she was away from the stove.
In 2000, Chef Schroeder’s dream came true when she opened Mother’s Bistro & Bar in downtown Portland to rave reviews. Much more than simply comfort food, this “mother food” is
based on made-from scratch, slow-cooked recipes, utilizing the best
available ingredients. In addition, Lisa honors mothers everywhere
with her “Mother of the Month” (or “M.O.M.”) menu,
where she celebrates original recipes from a different mother each
month, along with a brief background on the Mom which shares her unique
story. In August 2004, Lisa Schroeder opened Mama Mia Trattoria,
inviting Portlanders to experience the classic Italian dishes she grew
up on in Philadelphia’s Little Italy.
Chef Schroeder nurtures her community as well as her guests. She
was on the Board of Directors for the Oregon Restaurant Association and
the Chef’s Advisory Board for the American Dairy Council, co-chair for
the Portland Business Alliance’s Downtown Retail Council, a member of
the Chef’s Collaborative, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, Slow Food, and IACP, an educator for Share our Strength’s Operation Frontline, Honorary Chair of the Our House Dinner Series and a founding member of the Bridges of Hope Campaign for the Bradley Angle House, an organization committed to helping survivors of domestic violence.