Monika Marsh grew up in Truckee, the daughter of an Austrian father who spent 32 years coaching ski racers, including Monika herself, at Alpine Meadows. Before opening Edelweiss, she built a career as a marriage and family therapist while raising four children as a single mom. The restaurant came about almost by accident. Her husband found a space for lease, and Marsh knew immediately what she wanted to do with it: Serve the food she grew up eating—like schnitzel, goulash and apple strudel, the dishes her father, Hans, learned from his own mother, a pastry chef at the Hotel Post in Innsbruck. Edelweiss Pizza Pub and Pastries opened in December 2023, and it remains exactly what Marsh set out to build—a restaurant rooted in family memory. Edelweiss is located at 13979 S. Virginia St., No. 505, at the Shayden Summit mall. Visit www.edelweisspub.com.
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten locally in the last month?
I never miss a chance to go to Perenn and have a little French food. I always get my favorite walnut chocolate-chip cookie and the brunch potatoes.
Your kitchen is on fire! (Metaphorically.) What are you cooking?
I’m a baker at heart, but I’ve learned to cook most things. I’d say a very rich pasta dish with mushroom cream sauce. I cook everything with heavy cream and a lot of butter—just like Dad did.
Who is/was your strongest culinary influence?
My strongest influence will always be my father, Hans. He learned to cook at the knee of his mother in Austria, who was a pastry chef at the Hotel Post in Innsbruck. He taught me to cook when I was a young girl. We always ate fresh fish out of the Truckee River, goulash, apple strudel, schnitzel and fresh mushrooms—king boletes (that my father would hunt and pick on Donner Summit), a highly prized edible mushroom. We grew up with the best food!
What is your go-to midnight snack?
Usually, a big bowl of sugary cereal with half and half—probably the worst thing I could eat, but it tastes so good! I’m a junk-food junkie.
Which local restaurant deserves more attention, and why?
The Cup is my favorite breakfast spot in town. Their pumpkin pancakes are to die for; the staff is always lovely; and they never mess up my over-medium fried egg.
How does food contribute to our community?
I don’t think many people knew about Austrian food when we started. Now people come in all the time asking about dishes from Austria and Germany. I love that. Any restaurant that celebrates food from around the world brings people together, and I love teaching our patrons about Austria.
What is the one thing you won’t eat?
I have never liked sushi and never will—though my kids absolutely love it.
Please share your favorite food memory from growing up.
My father used to make me liver and onions, served with a little ketchup on the side. I loved it.
What is the one kitchen tool you can’t live without?
My espresso machine—and a good spatula.
What has been your most memorable meal?
Traveling to Aruba at 16 and eating goat stew. It was the best thing I’d ever tasted, rich and unexpected, in a tiny hole-in-the-wall on a back street I’d likely never find again.