wellington | table
Signature Dish
The Acai Bowl At Voi-La Is An Exquisite Treat For The Senses Story and Photos by Julie Unger
There’s a new restaurant in Wellington with Venezuelan roots and a French name. It’s called Voi-La, which means “look there” or “there it is.” “It’s the idea that when you have it, it’s easy, you take it and just grab it and go,” chef Andrea Larrazabal explained. “Even though we don’t have French food, we have a lot of things to take and go. It’s for busy people who don’t have the time to spend two hours at a restaurant.” Both in the front of Voi-La and toward the back are grab-and-go options such as milanesas de pollo, milanesas de carne, milanesas de tilapia, milanesas de cerdo, chicken parmigiana, broccoli quiche, empanaditas de pollo, torta de platano Chiquita, arepitas, lasagna, fresh salads and other items to make a quick meal. Voi-La is owned by Maria Fernanda Asuaje and professional Argentinian show jumper Ignacio Maurin. Asuaje is a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef
and equestrian, while Maurin’s wife, Larrazabal, is a trained chef from the Venezuelan Center of Gastronomic Training. The restaurant opened in the beginning of August, but Larrazabal and Asuaje have been catering together since the fall of 2015. They were catering for friends, birthdays and other events and were encouraged to open their own local restaurant. Within a few months, Voi-La was born. The signature dish at Voi-La, Larrazabal said, is the acai bowl. It comes with banana, kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, granola, honey and coconut flakes, and customers can add almond butter. “Acai, it’s fruit from the Amazon. You can find it in Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and a lot of the South American countries. It has antioxidants, is very wellington the magazine | october 2016
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