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My name is Chris, and I am the proud owner and operator of Matt and Memere’s, a food truck serving Louisiana French Creole cuisine in Portland, Oregon. My journey has been anything but easy, but my love for food and community has always kept me going. I was born in New Orleans to a young mother at Charity Hospital, facing challenges from the very start with cerebral palsy and hemiparesis due to schizencephaly. I never met my father, and while I was adopted as a baby, my adoptive family was abusive. Despite these hardships, I remained determined to build a life and family of my own.
After a difficult relationship in Louisiana, I moved to Portland in 2013, where I met my wife and shared my dream of owning a food truck. In 2016, I was able to open Matt and Memere’s, named in honor of my little brother, who passed away in a tragic boating accident, and my grandmother, Memere, whose kitchen was the heart of our family. Since opening, I have faced continued adversity, including managing my physical disability and enduring a ten-year custody battle for my daughters across four states. When their mother was arrested in 2023, I had to split my time between Louisiana and Portland, caring for my daughters and trying to keep my business afloat. This meant closing the food truck for months at a time and accumulating debt just to pay the bills and rent.
I have sacrificed everything for my food truck and to serve the people of Portland. The demands of the business have strained my marriage, and my family in Louisiana has not been supportive. Despite it all, I have found a home here in Portland and absolutely love serving this community. I want nothing more than to keep Matt and Memere’s open, sharing my love and food with the people who have become my family.
I want to thank the city of Portland for all the love they have given my wife and I. I have never known what real love was or felt like until I moved to Portland and opened Matt and Memere's. Thanks Portland. I love you too. Please help me save my food truck so I can continue honoring my brother and grandmother, and serving the city I now call home.
After a difficult relationship in Louisiana, I moved to Portland in 2013, where I met my wife and shared my dream of owning a food truck. In 2016, I was able to open Matt and Memere’s, named in honor of my little brother, who passed away in a tragic boating accident, and my grandmother, Memere, whose kitchen was the heart of our family. Since opening, I have faced continued adversity, including managing my physical disability and enduring a ten-year custody battle for my daughters across four states. When their mother was arrested in 2023, I had to split my time between Louisiana and Portland, caring for my daughters and trying to keep my business afloat. This meant closing the food truck for months at a time and accumulating debt just to pay the bills and rent.
I have sacrificed everything for my food truck and to serve the people of Portland. The demands of the business have strained my marriage, and my family in Louisiana has not been supportive. Despite it all, I have found a home here in Portland and absolutely love serving this community. I want nothing more than to keep Matt and Memere’s open, sharing my love and food with the people who have become my family.
I want to thank the city of Portland for all the love they have given my wife and I. I have never known what real love was or felt like until I moved to Portland and opened Matt and Memere's. Thanks Portland. I love you too. Please help me save my food truck so I can continue honoring my brother and grandmother, and serving the city I now call home.
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