File Photo / Tim Greenway
Restaurant owner and chef Cara Stadler, shown here at Tao Yuan in Brunswick, owns a number of eateries with her mother.
Updated: September 28, 2020
Portland’s Lio Restaurant closing for good as owners press on with other ventures
Photo / Renee Cordes
Lio Restaurant, located at 3 Spring St. in Portland, is closing its doors for good after two years in business.
Citing difficulties caused by the pandemic, the owners of Lio Restaurant in Portland are closing that restaurant for good but pressing ahead with their other existing ventures.
"It is with much sadness that we announce the permanent closure of Lio Restaurant," Cara and Cecile Stadler said in an emailed statement Sunday.
"We were unable to weather the pandemic without some rent relief, and with the decreasing temperatures and increasing COVID cases, we can find no viable way forward."
On a more positive note, they said, "we hope our food and wine brought some small moments of joy to you during these difficult times, a reminder of the simple pleasure of a shared meal with hope for better times to come."
The downtown restaurant was opened by Cara Stadler and her mother, Cecile, two years ago. They are closing with a sale of wines at huge discounts, throwing in a "mandatory purchase" of Brazilian cheese puffs with every order since they're not allowed to sell wine without food.
Reflecting on the bigger picture, they described owning a restaurant as a labor of love with many purposes, including building a community.
"It is a balancing act that doesn't require balance anymore without some assistance," they added. "Our systems are broken, and while the inequities are too numerous to enumerate, suffice it to say that the pandemic has brought out both the best and the worst in people. Although Lio is going away, we are not. We will see you again, on the other side of this pandemic."
As they wind Lio down, they are juggling plans for their other restaurants, announcing new hours at Zao Ze Cafe in Brunswick; the re-opening of Tao Yuan Restaurant in Brunswick for a "very very" limited number of parties, reservations only with a curated menu and minimum spend, starting mid to late October; and a new menu, and expanded cocktail program and set dinners at BaoBao Dumpling House in Portland.
In addition, their Canopy Farms aquaponics greenhouse has started production of its first-round Community Supported Agriculture program, which they plan to offer all winter.
They promised to share more details as plans are finalized.
The mother and daughter have been running restaurants for over a decade, first teaming up professionally in 2009 when they formed Gourmet Underground, one of Beijing's only private fine-dining clubs. In 2018 they formed Eighty Ate Hospitality to encompass all of the projects they run in Maine.
They opened Tao Yuan in Brunswick May 2012 as their first full-service restaurant, and opened Bao Bao in Portland's West End three years later.
Cara Stadler, an acclaimed chef with global training, has been recognized as Food & Wine magazine's "Best New Chef" and nominated several times for a James Beard "Rising Star Chef" award.
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