Quick bites with
Andrea Volker
Co-owner Mongolie Grill
Photos and text by Maureen Provençal
PQ: What’s your food/wine philosophy?
AV: Eating organic foods and drinking wines from around the world.
PQ: One food you can’t live without?
AV: Wine and cheese.
PQ: One ingredient you can’t live without?
AV: Pepper.
PQ: What food/drink should people be more open to trying?
AV: Teas.
PQ: One food you avoided as a child and now love?
AV: Seafood.
PQ: Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
AV: I don’t think I’ve eaten anything weird.
PQ: Most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?
AV: In a cave under the Napa Valley.
PQ: Exact moment you decided to become a chef?
AV: Eight years ago we took over a bankrupt restaurant and turned it into the Mongolie Grill that it is today.
PQ: What’s your solution for a last minute meal?
AV: Tub of peanut butter and a spoon.
PQ: Best trend in food/restaurants?
AV: Sushi fusion.
PQ: Worst trend in food/restaurants?
AV: Starbucks/large corporations.
PQ: Greatest professional moment?
AV: Creating a successful restaurant with a great business partner, Chris Miron.
PQ: Where would you go to eat, if you could go anywhere in the world?
AV: I would have fresh seafood on a tropical beach.
PQ: Where would you go for your last meal in Whistler?
AV: Appetizer at Quattro, entrée at Kypriaki’s and dessert at SoMo.
PQ: What brought you to Whistler?
AV: The ratio.
PQ: Who has been the most influential person on your business career?
AV: My father for his knowledge in business and guidance over the years, and my mother for being very supportive and patient.