Chef of the Year 2018: Alex Chen
Chef Alex Chen employs precision and creativity in equal measure.
In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” Truer words were never spoken about our Chef of the Year, who ran the Gold Medal Plates gauntlet twice before finally emerging victorious at this year’s Canadian Culinary Championships. Alex Chen’s Grand Finale dish was nothing short of a gastronomic tour de force. GMP judges praised his parfait of wild B.C. shellfish for “putting the entire Pacific Ocean in a tin”—a masterful oeuvre of balance, finesse and flawless precision.
He left a prestigious executive chef position at the Beverly Hills Hotel to pursue his competitive aspirations, lured back to Canada in 2011 when all-knowing chef Bruno Marti spotted his talent. “It was the hardest thing for me to walk away from such a high-profile job. But I’ve always been fascinated by the emotional roller coaster and the art of competing,” says Chen.