The olive branch is the shared symbol of peace, of finding a solution to what may appear to be conflict. In the cuisine at Olive Branch Catering, I create cuisine to bring peace through the connection that we share around the table, through the connection that we have to where our food comes from, through our love of incredible food and how that nourishment has sustained us through all time.  I source from local farms through the Organically Grown Company, but also source from organic farmers in other regions through OGC.

As chef and owner, my passion for farm to table cuisine started when I was just out of college.  Inspired by the book “The Sacred Kitchen” by Robin and Jon Robertson, many years ago, my culinary path began with returning to honoring the kitchen as sacred. After leaving a position in operations management at the Culinary Institute of America Greystone, I chose to raise my children close to the earth and knowing where food comes from, from the garden to raising livestock and milking goats and cheese making. Alice Waters was also deeply inspirational along the way and “The Art of Simple Food” was a staple in my kitchen. She inspired me with her Edible Schoolyard project which led me to teach cooking classes in my children’s school, using seasonal (and mostly free) available produce to create shared meals for the whole class, prepared by a group within the class.

After moving to Eugene I was the co-founder/owner of Ginkgo Catering. Over the past 2 and a half years, I continued the farm to table concept in the creation of the menus for Ginkgo Catering and operated as executive chef. I chose to branch out in the creation of Olive Branch Catering and left Ginkgo Catering in October of 2025.

We are all hungry, both children and adults, for a living connection to our food, through color, flavor, spices, umami and more. I wish to share this living connection through my cuisine, and may it bring the Olive Branch of peace, reminding us that we share this earth and abundance with one another.

In food preparation I use avocado oil, butter, coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil. Produce is sustainably sourced, local when available. Menus are created to reflect seasonal ingredients. Farm to table is meant to bring each of us closer to the source of where our food comes from, closer to that olive branch, that tree of life that is both medicine and nourishment.

~Lisa - chef and owner of Olive Branch Catering LLC