International Feast
Karen Bell Takes California
Cuisine to Madrid

In the center of Madrid, Spain, residents and tourists feast on culinary creations by Whitefish Bay's Karen Bell. The 1998 MATC graduate in Culinary Arts opened the small restaurant called "Memento" in January 2006. The secret of its customer appeal lies in an ever-changing menu, using seasonal produce painstakingly selected on a daily basis by Bell herself.

Unpretentious and practical, Memento features modern décor and seats 32 customers. Bell serves California cuisine, local wines and exotic cocktails such as cucumber cosmopolitans, passion fruit caipraihinas and pomegranate Manhattans. Keep it fresh, is her anthem.
 
"I always want to serve the best and freshest things. Some people like to stick with what they know they know, but I like to get people to try new things," she says. "That's why I don't have a 'signature dish.' That's the fun part for me. My dishes are constantly evolving." 
 

Found Her Niche

According to Bell, Madrid is among the cities having the largest number of restaurants per capita, but few others vary their menu with the season."There's a ton of competition, but not in this exact niche," she says. Memento is open six days a week. Bell does all the cooking and personally buys produce and ingredients. She employs waitstaff, but the cooking and business responsibilities are all hers.

As sole proprietor of her restaurant, Bell can't just walk away from the business for a vacation when she needs time off. This August, she prevailed upon a chef friend to run the restaurant for a week so she could visit her family in Whitefish Bay. The friend was about to move back to the U.S., so Bell took advantage of the opportunity to travel while she could. Despite leaving Memento in trusted hands, she became "a nervous wreck wondering what was happening" in her absence.

Like many of us, Bell took some time discovering what she wanted to do for a living. In finishing high school, she hoped to start a business, but lacked a clear plan. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for awhile, majoring in English. "I enjoyed it, but I wasn't passionate about it," she says. "I was going to school there because I didn't know what to do."

Passion for Cooking

Bell enjoyed cooking for friends, and she had years of experience working in all types of restaurants - ranging from pizzerias to fine dining establishments - since age 16. Based on her interests and experience, she decided to enroll in MATC's Culinary Arts program. "It was kind of an experiment, but as soon as I started, I knew it was what I wanted to do," Bell says.

The program taught her cooking basics; how to create a fine-dining experience; and business management skills. "MATC's Culinary Arts Program gave me the confidence I needed to enter the field and open my restaurant."

The 32-seat Memento serves seasonal California cuisine, local wines and exotic cocktails. Owner Karen Bell believes in "keeping it fresh."

Studied at Le Cordon Bleu 

As the winner of a 5-Star Culinary Grant from MATC, Bell spent a summer as a student cook at le Cordon Bleu in Paris. "It was amazing to study French cuisine in France, with French instructors. I don't cook only French cuisine, but I definitely think that my food has strong French influences, especially in technique. It was incredible to live abroad for three months, to learn a new culture and experience new foods."

Planning to be there only six months, Bell's time in Paris fostered her desire to travel and learn more about food and different styles of cooking. She now has fulfilled that passion in Madrid, where she continues her around-the-world experience with cuisine.

To learn more about her restaurant, visit http://www.restaurantememento.com/.

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