Chapter 1: The Early College Years
        At first Andrei merely enjoyed the traditional Serbian cooking of his mother.  The only meal Andrei ever cooked before he began dating his lovely wife Linda was “cream cheese pasta.”  It was pasta with cream cheese, milk, feta cheese, and bacon.  Andrei made it the first time he invited Linda over for dinner.  Linda didn’t eat bacon (she has since discovered the error of her ways) but enjoyed the cheesy pasta very much.  They began dating.

Chapter 3: The Early Years of Marriage (aka “The Fondue Years”)
        After Andrei and Linda married in 2003, they moved in together into a tiny (<500 sq ft) apartment in a fourth floor walk-up in NYC.  It was during these years that Andrei really branched out and came into his own.  He experimented with making multiple dishes at once, and the “sides” were born.  He started making fondue, and his lovely wife gained ten pounds.  He met his neighbor David, and they started sharing recipes, and even bringing over little bites of food to each other if they made something good for dinner that night.  Their souffle competitions are legendary.  Unfortunately, Andrei & Linda ate dinner on the coffee table, usually watching Law & Order, not an ideal spot for a feast.

Chapter 2: Linda Studies Abroad
        In Andrei’s 4th year of college, just one semester after he began dating lovely Linda, she left him to study abroad in Florence.  Andrei was lonely and watched a lot of food network.  His favorite chefs to watch included Mario Batali, Ming Tsai, and Jacques Pepin.  He experimented with pasta.  By the time Linda returned from Florence, Andrei and all his roommates were sitting down to dinner together eating a meal cooked by Andrei.  This maturity unfortunately didn’t last, as disagreements soon arose over who should clean the dishes afterwards.

Chapter 4: The Glory Years
        In 2006 Andrei and Linda moved into a bigger apartment in NYC, and Andrei’s and Linda’s mothers would alternate staying over to watch the baby (Luka, born Nov 2005).  This apartment had a dishwasher, plus an extra person doing the dishes, which freed up Andrei to really experiment with more complicated and exotic dishes.  He began to make Serbian dishes, and with the discovery of Citarella, lots of fish-centered meals.  Unfortunately, Andrei lost his Astrochef Title in 2008, but was inspired by this defeat to experiment with the complicated haute cuisine dishes from the French Laundry Cookbook.

Chapter 5: The Continuing Saga

        Since moving to Princeton, Andrei has experimented with different ingredients, and has taken advantage of the best part about moving out of the city: his grill.  On this grill many a legendary meal has been made.  No longer do Andrei and Linda have to wait for trips to Belgrade to eat grilled peppers, no longer do they have to reminisce about how lovely the cevapcici was at so-and-so restaurant in Belgrade.  Andrei and his little helper Luka grill often, and in all sorts of weather.  Some of Luka’s favorites include grilled squid and pljeskavica (spiced meat & onion patties).  Andrei is encouraging Linda to cook more often, and she will occasionally make an ethnic dish such as pad thai or chicken tikka, but Andrei is still the King of the kitchen.  Linda is happy that she caught him early.

Astrochef 2006

In spite of these working conditions, Andrei competed in and won “Astrochef 2006,” becoming the first title-holder for the event.  His winning dishes included couscous with carrots and parsnips, pork with a spiced apple cider reduction, and poached pears drizzled in chocolate.