She grew up in a town of 800 in northern Idaho. Her father died when she was 18 and later, her mother remarried and her stepfather lived in Phoenix so she moved there to be near her Mom. She spent 8 years as manager of IHOP and another 8.5 years at Mimi’s Café and Bakery. She said the Kitchen Manager at Mimi’s taught her so much. She learned a lot about comfort foods from them including the delicious chicken pot pies they now serve.  

She lived in the Valley until her Mom and then her stepfather passed away. Her mother-in-law was still there but was quite self-sufficient and they really wanted to get out of Phoenix but be fairly close if she needed them. A friend had a cabin in the Heber area where they stayed a couple of times and liked the area. They looked at a cabin to buy but was too rustic so the guy who was showing them that took them by the café and Michelle asked why and he said he knew she was in restaurant business and this building was available and the price was just reduced. Long story, short -- they bought the café. They opened three years ago last Father’s Day. Named it the Three Bear’s Café for Papa, Mama and Baby Bears. Daughter was married this year and lives in Phoenix where her husband is with the airlines. So, no more “Baby Bear” at the restaurant and Papa Bear is no longer a part of the restaurant business so it is now all Mama Bear. 

Michelle says the first year, she (like most all restaurants) lost money; the second was better and she did well this last year. A lot will depend on the snow as to how well she does during the winters but she is looking forward to a good year this year.

Since she has so much experience, she doesn’t hire for experience so most of her staff is under 26 and she has trained them. She says she takes the best of all she learned in over 40 years and uses it to train the people she hires -- people who are willing to work -- with a good attitude and a good personality. Michelle and her employees enjoy time together away from the restaurant. They are a big family. (Get her to tell you the story about the 21 roses for her Kitchen Manager’s 21st birthday!)

Michelle uses local ingredients wherever possible---eggs, coffee, milk and hot sauce are just a few of the items she buys in Arizona. She also makes as much food as possible from scratch. Their sweet cream pancakes taste more like cake and they make their own biscuits and sausage gravy with three kinds of sausage as well as baking their own bread for their French toast.

One of the big events at the restaurant happens every time there is a large fire in area. They feed the firefighters. Michelle has some awesome stories about the firefighters which she supports as she says, “They are fighting for our mountains.”

She tries to do as much as possible for the community. Right now, the restaurant is selling coins for fire department, saving pop tops for Ronald McDonald House (They will donate 5 minutes of dialysis time to a cancer patient for every pop top!) and anything else she can do or donate. One great service she provides is that she makes full Thanksgiving dinners: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, rolls and a piece of pumpkin pie for $16.99. People can pick up on Wednesday and just heat up on Thursday. She said she realized there were a lot of people who didn’t have access to Thanksgiving dinner as all restaurants were closed and she just wants people to enjoy a home-made dinner! She asked one woman who was buying seven dinners if it wouldn’t be cheaper to do it herself but she said she had spent about six hours cooking last Thanksgiving and this year Michelle could cook and she would watch football!