Page 16 - jr090121withlinks

REBOOTED: BISTRO (Continued from page 1)

The menu, which is still extensive, has been
pared down to one laminated page that can be
wiped down.
“It’s OK to cut the menu down, to cut the
hours and days; it’s OK not to have every
kind of liquor on the shelf,” she says, add-
ing she was the only person putting that
pressure on the restaurant. “COVID taught
us how to step back and reassess … to take
things a little slower.”
But Lisa won’t compromise on food and
service. Paring the menu down has helped
ensure they can use fresh ingredients by
Sunday and start afresh when they reopen
on Thursday mornings.
“I am not prepared to offer less than the
great service we have always had,” says
Lisa, who still steps in and cooks on the Standing just inside the large dining room at Mother's Bistro in early
line to give staff breaks and “to make sure August, owner Lisa Schroeder sports a mask from B’nai B’rith Camp, where her 9-year-old
guests don’t have to wait too long for their twin grandsons spent the summer.
meals.”
“We are back, but the city is not back yet,” When Oregon Gov. Kate Brown banned nounced a new mask mandate taking effect
says Lisa. “There are no fun activities to do seated dining to combat the spread of Aug. 13 on indoor public spaces to combat
downtown … there are no office workers to COVID on March 16, 2020, Lisa tried to the rise in COVID cases due to the highly
bring people into the restaurant.” keep some of her 102 employees on the transmissible Delta variant. People actively
Noting plays, concerts and festivals have job by offering takeout and delivery. But eating and drinking in restaurants and bars
yet to resume downtown, she adds, “We are she was only able to keep about 14 people can take off their masks, but masks are re-
somewhat of a draw, but not enough.” employed, and when Black Lives Matter quired for customers who have left their
With that reality in mind, Lisa has re- protesters flooded downtown, those em- table. Gov. Brown later announced a state-
opened four days a week from 9 am-2 pm ployees had difficulty getting to work. wide mask mandates.
and 5-10 pm Thursday-Saturday and Sun- She decided to shutter the restaurant tem- HELP FOR RECOVERY
days 9 am-2 pm. The popular restaurant porarily and covered the windows with Lisa is grateful for grants from two groups
debuted in 2000 to rave reviews and the plywood murals painted by an artistic em- and the federal government that “allow us
“Restaurant of the Year” title from Willa- ployee who paints under the name Xochit to breathe.”
mette Week. Ruvalcaba. While most of those murals A group of gourmands in Washington
The importance of family is another now have been shipped to an archive in state, Greg Hill Foundation and Restaurant
lesson Lisa says she and other staff have Oakland that is collecting BLM art, Lisa’s Strong, gave Mother’s Bistro $5,000. The
learned over the past year. favorite mural decorates the restaurant’s bistro received the same amount from the
Lisa has enjoyed spending Monday new outdoor seating structure. That mural Restaurant Reboot Award by the North-
through Wednesday with her twin grand- declares, “All mothers were summoned west Wine and Food Society. Those grants,
sons, Oliver and Julian, who have lived when he called out to his momma.” The which arrived before the federal govern-
with her much of the time since their moth- reference to George Floyd’s plea as he was ment announced the Restaurant Revital-
er died in a fall while hiking in the Gorge. murdered by police in Minneapolis sparked ization Grant program, helped Mother’s
On summer Thursdays and Fridays, Lisa the BLM protests, and Lisa calls it an im- reopen.
took the twins to B’nai B’rith Day Camp, portant reminder of the prejudice and dis- The federal grant must be used over the
which she calls “the loving community that crimination we face. next three years to pay salaries, buy food
embraces these kids” during the summer, Lisa says the protests have largely dissi- and other inventory, and make repairs.
just as Portland Jewish Academy does pated and are no longer the issue keeping It also paid for the outdoor dining struc-
during the school year. Each weekend, the people out of downtown. “What is bring- ture that seats up to 40 diners. Additional
twins join their 17-year-old brother Taylor ing us down is COVID. It is the remaining outdoor seating is available alongside the
at their father’s house. Sister Isabella, 18, is closures.” building under the awnings.
working in New Hampshire. A WINDING PATH TO REOPENING “This money will keep us afloat over the
Lisa says some of her staff who have chil- Lisa had planned to reopen April 29 with next couple years while the world tries to
dren can’t return to work until the restau- plans to serve Mother’s Day brunch May get back to some sort of homeostasis,” says
rant can be open for Monday through Fri- 9. Then on April 27, Gov. Brown imposed Lisa.
day shifts, giving them weekends with their new strict limits in high-risk counties to Lisa hopes the next couple of years will
children. curb a steep rise in cases. Lisa postponed also allow the restaurant to once again host
COVID CLOSURES the reopening till June. Passover seders, which feature her mother
Mother’s Bistro and Bar moved from Though the world seemed to be moving Belle’s recipe for matza ball soup (also
Second Avenue to a much larger down- past COVID, the disease had other ideas, available on the daily menu). Though the
town location inside the Embassy Suites at and the Delta variant has once again forced bistro is not kosher or Jewish-style, there
121 SW Third Ave. in 2018. Business was a reassessment for businesses. are plenty of motherly favorites on the
thriving until COVID hit. On Aug. 9, Multnomah County an- menu, especially during the holidays.
16 Jewish Review Sept. 1, 2021