Chanthy Yen, Winner of Top Chef Canada, Celebrates Vancouver’s Food Scene
When Chanthy Yen won the recent season of Top Chef Canada (season 11), it represented a significant moment: Yen was not only the first contestant of Cambodian descent, but also a winner who proudly represented Vancouver. In a conversation with Yen, he talks about what excites him as a chef about Vancouver’s food scene, the place of Cambodian cuisine within the city’s multicultural offerings, and his plans after winning the prestigious title.
Yen, born in Ontario, has honed his craft all around the world, including with Andoni Luis Aduriz at Mugaritz in Errenteria, Spain, and with Ferran Adrià at Bullipedia in Barcelona. His impressive resume includes opening and operating a restaurant (Fieldstone), as well as Cambodian street food pop-up (Touk) in Montreal, and serving as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal chef. In Vancouver, he was the Executive Chef at plant-based Nightshade (now closed), and was just named the Culinary Director for Kitchen Table Restaurants, overseeing numerous establishments, which include Bacaro, Carlino, and Pizzeria Farina.
Despite living in many different places, Yen says, “Vancouver has always felt like home to me.” He is particularly inspired by the ingredients that speak to his Cambodian culinary background, much of it learned from his grandmother. “Because we live in a rainforest, there are so many opportunities to find indigenous ingredients along with foraged ingredients. In Cambodia, my family also foraged, and I’m able to replicate that here on the West Coast,” he explains. The access to fresh local ingredients creates an intimacy that Yen isn’t able to achieve in other locations.
Yen identifies an ethos in Vancouver in relation to food that resonates with him. He says, “I find there is a lot more respect when it comes to these ingredients because the practices have been around for generations.” He mentions the vibrant farmers markets across the city where people can access local produce, as well as build community.
If he had to dream up a dish that embodies the spirit of Vancouver cuisine—and his relationship to it, Yen would showcase local seafood, like sablefish. After marinating the sablefish using an ingredient like miso or koji and air drying it, he would grill it over Japanese charcoal and then poach it in a broth of foraged mushrooms and sea ingredients like seagrass and kelp. The dish would be finished with poached foraged wild mushrooms, such as lobster mushrooms or hen of the woods. The combination of the sustainable seafood, the saline sea ingredients, and the foraged mushrooms captures Vancouver’s unique relationship to the natural world and its bounty.
Yen’s mention of the Japanese charcoal and miso connects with another aspect of Vancouver that he adores: its culinary diversity. “I can be a food chameleon whenever I want. I can do Italian food, or Vietnamese, or Japanese, or Cambodian,” he says. Not only does he have access to diverse ingredients to create different types of food himself, but Yen can also dine out at amazing restaurants that spotlight these cuisines. Yen talks about how Vancouver is a destination for food enthusiasts, with restaurants that have developed a high profile both nationally and internationally.
Yen says the list is incredibly extensive when he thinks of where to dine in Vancouver. He and his partner recently went to South Granville's Gary’s and appreciated the calibre of the cooking. He also raves over Maenam in Kitsilano, and Mount Pleasant’s SUYO Modern Peruvian and Song (by Kin Kao). Ask for Luigi (which is part of Kitchen Table Restaurants) is a beloved staple for him.
While Yen acknowledges financial challenges restaurateurs currently face, Yen envisions Vancouver’s already lively and diverse dining landscape continuing to expand, particularly in relation to different neighbourhoods, as well as cuisines that have been less prominent up until this point. “There are so many opportunities for up-and-coming restaurants, and more regional cuisines would be very popular,” he says. For example, he names food from Mexico City and neo Tokyo classics as more specific cuisine that would be great to see in the city.
Yen would particularly love more Cambodian restaurants, which he thinks could have more representation in Vancouver and Canada. While he doesn’t have immediate plans, he intends to open a Cambodian restaurant in the future. He mentions the phenomenal following for Chinatown’s Phnom Penh, which specializes in Cambodian dishes, as evidence that diners have an appetite for the cuisine. “Top Chef has been a stepping stone for awareness and showcasing of Cambodian food,” he says. With his pedigree as a chef, Yen feels that he brings a distinct approach to his culture’s cooking, an approach that contributed to his victory on Top Chef Canada.
Yen says the Top Chef win is more than an individual one. He says it is also a win for Vancouver’s cultural dining scene, in addition to a win for a different philosophy in the restaurant industry. “We’re removing that macho, machismo approach and resetting the kitchen for kindness, respect, and pride,” he explains.
Yen evidenced this ambassadorial role for Vancouver and for Cambodian cuisine at a night of "Top Chef Canada Experience - Coast to Coast" (February 27-28, 2025). The dinner, taking place at Bacaro, involved a five-course tasting menu, with dishes created by Top Chef season 11 contestants Moira Murray, Christina Khan, Haan Palcu-Chang, and Yen. In the intimate, warm surroundings of Bacaro, diners first delighted in cicchetti—bite-size openers—such as BC sockeye salmon on a potato kelp pavé with shiso and ginger from Yen; and crispy sunchoke skin with sunchoke parfait and burnt citrus caramel from Murray.
The meal then shifted to other delicious courses: beef tartare with nuoc cham, chili, herbs, and fried shallots, served with shrimp chips by Palcu-Chang, tortellini with duck proscuitto, comté, and northern bayberry by Murray; and poached sablefish with squash choka, curdito, and annatto oil from Khan.
For his course—the final one of the evening—Yen served a play on the dessert that appeared in the finale of Top Chef Canada. Incorporating makrut lime leaf and citrus from Salt Spring Island and local yogurt, Yen crafted a makrut lime leaf yogurt gelato, served with coconut cake and a honey tuile. Refreshing, lovely, and rooted in local ingredients yet drawing on international influences, the dish was quintessentially Chanthy Yen.