Ahhh... the newsletter.... The place for those of us that run a business to run our special offers, witty remarks, earth-shattering revelations, etc. I, of course, have decided that I need to jump on this bandwagon and get my newsletter rolled out to those of you that really do care... *crickets chirping*
When I decided to start a newsletter, I knew that I didn't want to fill the entire thing with paragraph upon paragraph about lil' ole me, so I thought that it might be nice to
I recently got the chance to sit down with the owner of Andre's Confiserie Suisse, Rene Bollier!
Never a busier guy will you meet, but he certainly loves his career - handcrafting some of the finest chocolates in the world!
Without taking him away from his confectionery magic for too long, I got the chance to ask a few questions that I, the Queen Bee, was just dying to know the answers to...
QB: So, Rene... how long have you been the owner of Andre's Chocolates?
R: About 9 years now. I started training with my dad (Marcel Bollier - Andre's son) from the time I was about 5 or 6 years old. My dad had me start at the bottom, you know, cleaning floors, straightening up and then to cutting cookies, slowly I worked my way up. I actually spent a number of years in Switzerland training as a pastry chef before I came home to Andre's."
R: Definitely the creativity that goes into it. Every aspect of it is extremely creative. I love to work on developing new recipes, manipulating the chocolate to have certain looks... certain textures. But the creativity of it, for sure.
R: We hand make a variety of single source dark chocolate truffles with cocoa beans that come from Madagascar, Ecuador, Bolivia & Venezuela. Much like coffee beans or the grapes for wine, when you take items from a specific location they will have a unique, individual flavor. The single source truffles are fantastic. Some are earthy, some fruity, really bold... interesting.
R: Well, we really have 2 items that you shouldn't miss out on. Our Signature Chocolate Covered Almonds are the first. Those are, by far, our biggest seller. Every year we produce about 40,000 pounds of chocolate and almost half of that production goes to the almonds. The second "must haves" are our truffles - both milk and bittersweet. Those are very good! Our ratio of cream to chocolate is just right to give a really bold flavor. There is just the right amount of creaminess to the fillings.
R: (chuckling) Very little. Mostly, just a lot of milk for my 3 year old. Both my wife and I love cooking but we really do it on the spur of the moment. We don't stock up on large quantities of food. Living in Europe, we got used to being really close to the grocery store and would just go and buy our food for the day. Now, we really just stock the essentials. Milk and maybe some Boulevard Beer.
R: I think I would want to experience the 60's. It seemed like it was a generation of forward thinkers, young individuals. It seems like it would have been a really interesting time.
R: Roadrunner.
R: Tom.
R: A lake house, somewhere close.
R: Invisibility! I could just disappear!
This was the end of our conversation, as Rene had to get back to make chocolate that the world loves. I can't wait until the roads are clear enough for me to get out of here and go try out some of the items that he recommended to me! I will certainly be taking the coupon that is included in our monthly The Beez Kneez newsletter. He offers FREE CHOCOLATE to my readers. Now, you tell me, what is better than that?
You can visit Andre's at either location... 5018 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64112 or 4929 W. 119th Street, Overland Park, KS 66209. Both locations have different hours, so be sure to check their website to find out when they are open. Andre's Chocolates Online
Thanks again to Rene Bollier and everyone at Andre's for the special offer and taking the time for my interview. I look forward to visiting... again and again!
I recently got the chance to sit down with the owner of Andre's Confiserie Suisse, Rene Bollier!
Never a busier guy will you meet, but he certainly loves his career - handcrafting some of the finest chocolates in the world!
Without taking him away from his confectionery magic for too long, I got the chance to ask a few questions that I, the Queen Bee, was just dying to know the answers to...
QB: So, Rene... how long have you been the owner of Andre's Chocolates?
R: About 9 years now. I started training with my dad (Marcel Bollier - Andre's son) from the time I was about 5 or 6 years old. My dad had me start at the bottom, you know, cleaning floors, straightening up and then to cutting cookies, slowly I worked my way up. I actually spent a number of years in Switzerland training as a pastry chef before I came home to Andre's."
QB: What is your favorite thing about making chocolate?
R: Definitely the creativity that goes into it. Every aspect of it is extremely creative. I love to work on developing new recipes, manipulating the chocolate to have certain looks... certain textures. But the creativity of it, for sure.
QB: What is your favorite "flavor" of chocolate?
R: We hand make a variety of single source dark chocolate truffles with cocoa beans that come from Madagascar, Ecuador, Bolivia & Venezuela. Much like coffee beans or the grapes for wine, when you take items from a specific location they will have a unique, individual flavor. The single source truffles are fantastic. Some are earthy, some fruity, really bold... interesting.
QB: So, if I were planning a visit to Andre's Chocolates - and I am - what would be the one thing NOT TO MISS?
R: Well, we really have 2 items that you shouldn't miss out on. Our Signature Chocolate Covered Almonds are the first. Those are, by far, our biggest seller. Every year we produce about 40,000 pounds of chocolate and almost half of that production goes to the almonds. The second "must haves" are our truffles - both milk and bittersweet. Those are very good! Our ratio of cream to chocolate is just right to give a really bold flavor. There is just the right amount of creaminess to the fillings.
QB: Ok, Rene... all seriousness aside! Tell me... if I looked in your refrigerator RIGHT NOW, what would I find?
R: (chuckling) Very little. Mostly, just a lot of milk for my 3 year old. Both my wife and I love cooking but we really do it on the spur of the moment. We don't stock up on large quantities of food. Living in Europe, we got used to being really close to the grocery store and would just go and buy our food for the day. Now, we really just stock the essentials. Milk and maybe some Boulevard Beer.
QB: If you could go to the past, where would you go?
R: I think I would want to experience the 60's. It seemed like it was a generation of forward thinkers, young individuals. It seems like it would have been a really interesting time.
QB: Roadrunner or Coyote?
R: Roadrunner.
QB: Tom or Jerry?
R: Tom.
QB: What is the first thing that you would buy if you found out that you had won the lottery?
R: A lake house, somewhere close.
QB: If you had one superpower, what would it be?
R: Invisibility! I could just disappear!
This was the end of our conversation, as Rene had to get back to make chocolate that the world loves. I can't wait until the roads are clear enough for me to get out of here and go try out some of the items that he recommended to me! I will certainly be taking the coupon that is included in our monthly The Beez Kneez newsletter. He offers FREE CHOCOLATE to my readers. Now, you tell me, what is better than that?
You can visit Andre's at either location... 5018 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64112 or 4929 W. 119th Street, Overland Park, KS 66209. Both locations have different hours, so be sure to check their website to find out when they are open. Andre's Chocolates Online
Thanks again to Rene Bollier and everyone at Andre's for the special offer and taking the time for my interview. I look forward to visiting... again and again!
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