Andrae Bopp, a St. Louis native, has been passionate about food and wine his entire life. Food was always at the center of his life from his high school days in Heidelberg Germany, to when Andrae graduated with top honors, from the French Culinary Institute in New York City.

Following graduation, Andrae worked and interned in some of the world’s finest restaurants, including Bouley, Danube, Balthazar, and Le Bernardin, a Michelin Three Star restaurant. Andrae’s opened in Boise Idaho, to rave reviews in 2004. Since its inception, Andrae’s was a regional, if not a national destination restaurant, transforming Boise's local dining scene. Andrae was known throughout the Pacific Northwest for the numerous wine dinners with some of the industry’s top winemakers and his work with local farmers, including starting the “Farm to Table” movement in Boise.

Andrae’s Boise restaurant received accolades in Northwest Palate, Wine Spectator, Wine Press Northwest, Culinary Trends, and Santé, a national restaurant trade publication, that named them “Best Fining Dining Restaurant (Southwest) in 2006. Andrae received two flawless critical reviews from Boise’s newspaper, The Idaho Statesman. Andrae also garnered an array of awards from the Washington Wine Commission, including two Grand Awards and receiving the “Best Washington Wine List outside Washington State” award two years in a row, for his Washington and especially his Walla Walla Valley wine programs.

In the summer of 2008, Andrae relocated to Walla Walla, with the plans of combining his love of food with his passion for wine. This came to fruition as Andrae worked harvest and was involved with the blending trials and daily winemaking responsibilities for Dusted Valley Vintners. His hard work and eagerness to learn were rewarded with Andrae being named the Assistant Winemaker and Executive Chef for Dusted Valley Vintners in Walla Walla.

In 2009, Andrae began his Underground/Pop-Up Dining Series, La Porte Brune, to sold-out events throughout the Pacific Northwest. It was then that he began the process of opening up Andrae’s Kitchen, one of the first mobile Food Trucks in the Pacific Northwest.

In 2012, Andrae opened a permanent restaurant inside the Cenex Convenience Store and has garnered many National attention and awards since, including Pacific Northwest Caterer of the Year (2012), Best Food Truck Restaurant in North America (2016), Best Gas Station Breakfast in America (2016). And has been featured in The New York Times, Food and Wine, Men's Journal, Travel and Leisure Magazine, USA Today, Wine Enthusiast, Sunset, and many other Regional and National publications. In 2019 Andrae’s Kitchen was featured on The Cooking Channels show Food Paradise, as he continued to push the envelope with his creative “Gas Station Cuisine”.

In 2014 Andrae teamed up with Minam Store Outfitters and began their Wine and Food on The River trips, featuring gourmet dinners all paired up with Walla Walla Wineries, served each night at camp, on the Grande Ronde and Salmon Rivers as well as in Hells Canyon on the Snake River. 2020 brought Food and Wine Magazine featuring these trips with a full feature spread plus the cover of the August 2020 issue.

In March of 2021, Andrae moved from his iconic spot in the Cenex gas station to his current location in the heart of Downtown Walla Walla. AK’s Mercado is a gathering place based on his love of tacos and mezcal. Over the last 25 years, Andrae has redefined food and dining in the Northwest with his creative and out-of-the-box thinking.

Andrae is married to Michelle and has a daughter Kyndra. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling to Mexico, live music/going to concerts (especially Pearl Jam), fly fishing, white water rafting, hiking, and overlanding as well as spending time with his family and his 2 Newfoundland dogs(Odin and Radley) and his newest puppy Luke.