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Q&A With Andrey Durbach

Portrait

Each week, Scout poses 60 questions to a local who has made life in BC that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A Rorschach test, for sure…

Andrey Durbach is the executive chef and co-owner of Parkside, La Buca, and Pied-a-Terre restaurants, and the author of the children’s book Delicious Chicken Soup.

Default drink of choice: Cold beer

Drink you’ll never have again: Instant coffee

Sexiest fashion item for the opposite sex: Choker necklace

Favourite wine varietal: Sangiovese

The person you can imitate: My French Bulldog, Withnail (and yes, I know he’s not a person).

One thing you’d like to change about Vancouver: I’d change the rain into sunshine

Bartender who could sell you anything: Charles Forsberg

The thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating: Ice cream

Cheap place for dinner: Phnom Penh

Three things about your neighbourhood that make you want to live there: Cioffi’s; the privacy; the views.

Last place traveled: Montreal

Biggest fear: Rats

Cliche that you use too often: It’s not a cliche, but I do swear a lot

Best sneaker in the world: Lacoste

Best bar stool in the city: Don’t have one

What are you proud of: Maintaining a vibrant and meaningful relationship with my wife while working my entire adult life in the time sucking, soul crushing, pressure cooker of the restaurant industry

The thing that makes you the angriest: People who think that 8:30 is too late for dinner

Saddest thing about Vancouver: The shitty architecture

Talent you wish you possessed: I wish I were mechanically inclined

Musical instrument you long to play: The mixing board

Sport you gave up: Football (the one you play with your feet)

The game you’re best at: Sauce station on Saturday night

Mac or PC: Mac, of course

The scariest situation you’ve ever been in: In the back of a Honda civic doing a 720 across three lanes of traffic on an iced up I-5

Best concert experience ever: Talking Heads, Burning Down the House tour

Describe your tattoos: A half sleeve Ganesha, in full regalia, seated on a lotus flower surrounded by an aura of conch shells, very detailed and brightly coloured.

The dish you’re most proud of: Green pea, mint and ricotta agnolotti with ragu of lamb cheeks

The thing that makes you the most nervous: Irrational people

Town you were born in: Winnipeg

Old television shows you can tolerate re-runs of: Yes, Minister

Quality you admire most in yourself: My capacity for independent thought

Album that first made you love music: Joe’s Garage by Frank Zappa

The career path you considered but never followed: Air traffic control

The one country that you have no interest in ever visiting: China

The thing you’re addicted to: Manchester United Football Club

There are 6 comments

  1. Andrey is one of my favorite chefs anywhere. He doesn’t give a shit about trends, only quality. His taste in football clubs is, however, questionable. Go Villains!

  2. There are very few people on earth I enjoy having a post-service glass/bottle of wine with more than Andrey. Can’t wait for my copy of Delicious Chicken Soup.

  3. I am horrified by that black knife mangler I see there on the counter next to the colander.

  5. Thank you, Andrey, for your remark about Vancouver’s architecture. I love these Q&A’s, especially when interviewees say exactly what I’ve been hankering to say myself.

  6. Thank you, Andrey, for your remark about Vancouver’s architecture. I love these Q&A’s, especially when interviewees say exactly what I’ve been hankering to say myself.

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