• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Sip Bite Go logo

  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Smoker Recipes
    • Griddle Recipes
    • Air Fryer Recipes
    • Homemade Pizza
    • Sous Vide Recipes
    • Trader Joe’s Recipes
    • Steak Recipes
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Pasta Recipes
    • Keto Friendly
  • Smoker Recipes
  • Griddle
    • All Griddle Recipes
    • Traeger Flatrock Griddle Grill
    • Blackstone Griddle Grill
  • Air Fryer
  • Sous Vide
    • All Sous Vide Recipes
    • The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook
    • Buttery Sous Vide Lobster Tail Recipe
    • Sous Vide Frozen Steak
    • Sous Vide T Bone Steak
    • Sous Vide Chicken Wings
    • Sous Vide Egg Bites
  • Cookbooks
  • More
    • Travel
    • Entertaining
    • Kitchen Remodel
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press Features
    • About
    • Get Updates
    • Podcast
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • Find A Recipe
  • Grill Recipes
  • Smoker Recipes
  • Tri Tip
  • Pizza Recipes
  • Smoked Chicken Breast
  • Traeger Flatrock Griddle Grill
  • Air Fryer Recipes
  • Sous Vide
  • Holiday Dishes
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Sip Bite Go – PR / Press Features
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » My Weird Food Obsession Podcast » Artist Obsessed With Baking Chats Opening A Pastry Business During Pandemic

    Artist Obsessed With Baking Chats Opening A Pastry Business During Pandemic

    Published: Apr 26, 2021 · Modified: May 8, 2021 by Jenna Passaro · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Pin6
    Tweet
    Share
    Share
    6 Shares
    text overlay with title over patisserie with podcast logo in the corner

    Listen to My Weird Food Obsession Podcast – episode 19 on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts to hear about opening a pastry business, and more, in this foodie podcast episode…

    • What is a micro patisserie?  
    • How French Kiss PDX came to be. 
    • The secret to opening a successful business amidst a pandemic. 
    • Celebrating and learning from failures. 
    • How it all began: Lisa’s French pastry journey. 
    • Managing instability as an entrepreneur. 
    • How the pandemic made way for her new business. 
    • The joys of baking and being in the kitchen.
    • Creating nuance and depth in pastries. 
    • Lisa’s current pastry obsessions. 
    • What’s next for French Kiss? 
    • How to get started on baking as a hobby or career. 

    Learn about opening a pastry business

    You are never too old to change the direction of your life. Of course, if you don’t believe that, you will always be too old to steer your life in a new direction.

    Approaching 40, when others may feel stuck in their ways, today’s guest quickly pivoted careers at the start of the pandemic. She was living life as an artist, commissioned by interior designers to create art for Portland hotels and businesses. As projects were put on hold, she found the opportunity to reconnect with her experience as a baker and fall back in love with the art of baking pastries.

    So join me as I chat art, pastry, Portland restaurants, feeling mediocre but knowing your moment is going to come, and everything in between with today’s guest, Lisa Hildebrant. We chat about how innovation comes from failures and how she was always destined to become owner of French Kiss, a micro pâtisserie located in St. Johns, Portland, Oregon.

    Lisa’s photos in this article are shot by Portland photographer Ty Milford.

    Pressing on when the world says no

    As we chatted about her life path, one thing came out clear: Lisa is no stranger to blazing her own path. When, as a brand-new highschooler from a non-artistic, conservative family she enrolled in a Performing and Visual Arts homeschool, she found fitting in was not an option: her class-mates had grown up in art-steeped homes, and were already miles ahead of her when when it came to anything artistic.

    Determined to succeed when even her teachers suggested she ‘just didn’t have it in her’ she persevered and, after years of hard work, ended up with the hard-won skills and talent she had so long desired. As an extra bonus, she found herself with an artistic career, and the ability to pay the bills with her painting.

    “Innovation comes out of problems. We don’t get progress unless we have a problem and that’s how it works, right? You don’t find solutions unless there’s a problem to find it, and that’s how creativity works.” – Lisa Hildebrant

    A sweet tooth and a love of pastry

    For Lisa, her life was her art. Even as a child, she was always busy drawing or making something with her hands. When she wasn’t in the kitchen, that is. A sweet tooth and a love of cooking meant that her family was often treated to delicious baked concoctions. When in highschool, her friends were hanging out by the beer keg, she’d be the one in the kitchen, making cookies for everyone.

    But it wasn’t till her apprenticeship stint at a French patisserie that she discovered how, in a unique way, baking could be art. A slump in the economy had left her temporarily penniless and a resident, again, of her parent’s house. When mom suggested she apply at the new French patisserie, her first reaction was a decided no. But hanging out at home with nothing to do gets old fast, and it wasn’t long before she was knocking on the little bakery’s door, asking for a trial.

    Citrus tarts was where it began, but it wasn’t long before she had learned the secrets of every sweet morsel in the book—and discovered an intense love of pastry making in the process. 

    “When you work in a kitchen and you love the work, it’s like time travel. I get in at six in the morning then I look up at the clock, and it’s 5pm. And I don’t even know what happened.” – Lisa Hildebrant

    Opening a pastry business in the middle of a pandemic

    Kitchens are contagious, the pastry chef at Lisa’s French pâtisserie had told her. If you work in one, you’ll never want to work elsewhere again. It wasn’t long before she understood what that meant—making beautiful, delicious pastries was strangely addictive; and a form of beauty that appealed deeply to her artistic nature.

    But she didn’t stay at the pâtisserie, and when she moved to Portland with her husband she focused on her painting, creating masterpieces on commission to hang in Portland hotels and other public places.

    Life was good, if busy.

    But then the pandemic struck, commissions decreased, and she found herself free to experiment again— free to follow up her dream of micro patisserie.

    With coffee shops and cafes closed for indoor dining, Lisa created an innovative business model that fit perfectly her unique circumstances. French Kiss has no brick-and-mortar storefront. 

    It works on a subscription model, and lucky subscribers receive a weekly box of fancy French pastries—pastries that, if the reviews are true, transport them immediately back to sunnier places and times.

    What is your secret foodie dream?

    Lisa tells us that it’s not too late to follow up on it, whatever it may be. Don’t forget to listen to the podcast episode to hear the full story and get inspired.

    Links mentioned

    • French Kiss Portland pastry company
    • See Jenna’s guide to the best Portland lunch restaurants

    Learn more about opening a pastry business

    Listen to My Weird Food Obsession Podcast – episode 19 on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.

    More from My Weird Food Obsession

    • Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Amazon-Audible
    • Listen to another recent episode
    • Connect on Instagram @sipbitego and @myweirdfoodobsession
    « Pan Fried Potato Chips – Small Batch from Scratch (+ VIDEO)
    Sous Vide Egg Recipes »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    jenna passaro food blogger from Portland Oregon

    Hey, I’m Jenna Passaro.

    I develop easy recipes that can transform your kitchen into a restaurant – and you into a true home chef.

      

    Where to start?

    Learn the secrets to smoking tasty Traeger recipes and making pizza at home. And cook amazing tri tip steak dinners.

    Or, fall in love with something new to cook with your air fryer, pellet smoker, BBQ grill, sous vide cooker, and more…

    You’ll notice, I kind of geek out over new cooking trends and tools!

    Instagram me @sipbitego & chef hubs @handmodelpatrick

    My story. Growing up, I didn’t learn to cook.

    (I was actually banned from cooking for years)

    And then in my 20’s I didn’t have to cook because my job as an event planner involved a lot of travel and it was easier to eat out. At the time, I was 100% positive that restaurant food would always taste better than cooking at home, and there was nothing I could do about it.

    Until I fell in love with a chef. He would come over and cook me delicious meals right in my own kitchen. My mind was blown.

    Since then, I’ve been on a mission to figure out easy ways to make restaurant style food at home and share it here on Sip Bite Go.

    Love to eat out and travel? I can totally relate. See my guide on where to eat in Portland, OR.

    jenna passaro the home chef's sous vide cookbook

    Never in a million years did I imagine I’d ditch the 9-5 lifestyle in my late 20’s, move across the country on a whim, start a new life, start a food blog, and write a book.

    But here I am!

    See my book on Amazon: The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.

     

       

    Game Day Food

    Back Yard BBQ Menu Ideas for the Grill and Smoker

    Tasty Back Yard BBQ Menu Ideas

    Best Traeger and Blackstone griddle recipes collage

    Easy Griddle Recipes for Beginners

    How long to cook sliders

    How Long To Cook Sliders (Stovetop Recipe)

    Teriyaki Steak Marinade

    Easy Teriyaki Steak Marinade

    Grill + Smoker

    Traeger Flatrock Smash Burger Kit for Griddle Review

    Flatrock Griddle Ultimate Smashed Burger Kit Review

    Traeger Flatrock Griddle Philly cheesesteak burgers with onions and peppers and cheddar cheese

    Philly Cheesesteak Burgers Smashed on the Flatrock

    Community Favs

    raw ground beef patties for burgers

    How To Make Ground Beef Patties For Burgers

    How To Cook Tri Tip In Oven Recipe

    How To Cook Tri Tip In Oven Perfectly

    Air Fryer

    Air Fryer Turkey Legs Disney Copycat Recipe

    How To Air Fry Turkey Legs

    Air Fryer Brats Recipe

    Air Fryer Beer Brats (aka Bratwurst)

    Pizza Cravings

    Cheeseburger Pizza Recipe With Pickles topping

    Cheeseburger Pizza With Pickles

    Fig And Prosciutto Gourmet Pizza Recipe

    Dried Fig And Prosciutto Flatbread Pizza

    Holiday Dishes

    Traeger smoked salmon filet recipe on tin foil on the pellet grill

    Pellet Smoker Salmon Filets

    Turkey Legs In Oven Sip Bite Go

    Easy Baked Turkey Legs In Oven Recipe

    Footer

    • Sip Bite Go
    • Recipe Index
    • Sous-Vide Recipes
       
    Sip Bite Go As Seen On
    • Work with Sip Bite Go
    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Get Updates
    • Accesibility Info

    COPYRIGHT © 2021 SIP BITE GO