Meet Chef Bibi

I was born to industrious, hard working parents with my four sisters and two brothers. I was educated under British academics but learned to sew my own clothes from imported fabrics and cook with my eldest sister. I was raised in the center of the capital of Georgetown during the British occupation’s end, turning into a teen to see the growing pains of a country rebirthing itself. I was a city girl and the stories I had growing up are blissful. 

I was sent to New York at 17 where I worked for textile companies. I soon fell in love and married my husband. I had Sharon, my daughter, and then Mikey a few years later. I loved motherhood but I also loved working. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in the early ’80s and I started deli after deli in downtown Phoenix selling American deli food but they didn’t prove fruitful. I then went into Corporate America until retirement. 

I have always loved cooking for friends and family and for everyone on Thanksgiving. I never thought of sharing my home-cooking through a restaurant. I know friends always requested my chow mein at gatherings and I remember their children running around the house with just Bake in their mouths but it never occurred to me that people would really like it. So when Mikey told me of his idea, I shared it with friends and they were very encouraging. 

I was up for adventure. So in August of 2018, I packed up some stuff from Phoenix, AZ and we set out in the unknown to Portland.

It was my first time there and I was overcome by the beauty and how friendly and accepting people here are to us. I love feeding people. I love hearing their words of enjoyment. I never thought I would be cooking professionally again and I am so happy I get to do it for Portland.

Meet The Founder

I was born in the Bronx, raised in Arizona, and then after college, I tried my hand at a short 15 years in corporate America. And despite the many hats I wore, there was always one constant; the mouth below the hat loved to eat food and try new things and experience new cultures in the most palatable manner possible.

In the end, corporate America did afford me the luxuries of eating without compromise whenever and wherever I wanted as I spent my resources on experiences. I once flew to Belgium for eight hours just to eat chocolate because I overheard people talking about how good it was at the Grand Central Market so I had to verify. I was able to travel to different continents and meet locals who gladly shared their favorite eating spots. For some reason, locals spoiled me with information and recommendations. In fact, in Florence, Italy, the general manager of the hotel I was staying at walked me two miles to the restaurant he and his wife would go to every week. I’ve had a tremendous amount of eating experiences, everything from 3-star Michelin rated restaurants to holes in the walls and dives with priceless character and wholesomeness creating untouchable masterpieces to places that served the absolute worst and quite a few in between.

But I also love to feed people. More importantly, I love to see people happy and love to learn and teach people. Being in Portland affords me everything I’ve wanted. Beyond being an outrageously gorgeous place to explore, Portland has been an undeniably welcoming community to which I get to introduce my culture to.

Beyond food (French is my favorite along with Guyanese), I love writing, biking, hiking, scrambling, basically anything outdoors or on water or in the air, astronomy, sciences of any kind, engineering, learning and teaching, things in the light, and things in the dark. I’m currently learning to play the harmonica.

- Owner, Michael Singh