OSTERIA SAVIO VOLPE WELCOMES NEW HEAD CHEF ANDREA ALRIDGE
AND REKINDLES THE WOOD FIRE GRILL
“Mother Nature is the true artist and our job as cooks is to allow her to shine.”
After weathering her first holiday season and the beginning of a long winter at the osteria, Andrea Alridge has settled into her new role as head chef of Savio Volpe, putting into practice her belief that to make a great dish one must cook with their head, hands and heart. And, an open wood fire doesn’t hurt either! Vancouver born and bred, Andrea believes in cooking with simplicity and good, local ingredients – a decidedly Italian philosophy.
Cooking Italian food with open fire is an absolute joy of mine,” says Andrea. “It requires much patience, love and respect for the ingredients. I believe that working with fire truly brings people closer together, the way it bonds a team, the dishes that come from it, and the presence that fills the room from the hearth of the fire.”
Considering this, and that the temporarily out of commission wood fire has finally been re-stoked at the osteria, Culinary Director Phil Scarfone believes Chef Andrea to be “a natural choice as head chef” and someone with whom he can collaborate and make magic.
The fellow Top Chef Canada alum, having started her career in the culinary arts at Vancouver Community College, made a name for herself by working her way through some of the city’s best restaurants, most recently as chef de cuisine at Vancouver’s Cin Cin Ristorante. “With her sterling reputation, strong work ethic and friendly demeanor,” says Chef Phil, “Andrea is the total package of a leader.”
As winter’s crops make way for spring and summer’s bounty, we look forward to hearing what Andrea’s ingredients have to say, when allowed to speak for themselves, when gently coaxed by experienced hands and the kiss of the wood fire, when emboldened to do so: “I just love bold flavours and really letting the ingredient shine through.”
A warm welcome in the dead of winter to the newest member of the fox famiglia.
For more information about Savio Volpe or to book a reservation, visit www.saviovolpe.com.
About Savio Volpe
Opened in Vancouver’s Fraserhood neighbourhood in 2015, Osteria Savio Volpe is a restaurant styled after the classic osteria — featuring rustic fare in the Italian tradition of freshness and regionality, using ingredients gathered from the nearby lakes, oceans, farms and fields. Everything is prepared in the simplest, most flavourful way, with pasta handmade fresh every day – fatto a mano in casa – and meat, poultry and fish kissed by smoke over the wood-fired grill and rotisserie. The 75-seat osteria, which was named ‘Best Italian’ at the 2019 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, also features a long list of friendly Italian wines and old-world coffee to inspire conversation and good cheer among friends, family and strangers alike. Above all else, Savio Volpe celebrates liveliness, warmth and hospitality. www.saviovolpe.com
Media release and images provided by Gemma Bishop, Bishop PR.
