Restaurant Awards 2026: Chef of the Year, Roger Ma

Vancouver Magazine’s Chef of the Year for 2026 is… Roger Ma

Boulevard
845 Burrard St.
boulevardvancouver.ca

Passion is a funny thing. In our cultural expressions we prefer it in its most unbridled form: the artist throwing paint on a canvas, the rockstar whipping a TV out a hotel window… the perfectionist chef screaming at their team. The reality is that passion is also rooted in expression within the lines—in creating magic between the guardrails.

For a young Roger Ma growing up in Vancouver, his passion began when he would hang out with buddy Pete Ho (yes, that Pete Ho, of Sumibiyaki Arashi), cooking for their pals and raising just a bit of hell on Marpole’s mean streets. When it came time to choose a vocation, he would again be guided by passion—he had been studying fine art at Langara with his sights set on Emily Carr when, during a spell visiting Ho in Japan, the draw of food saw him scrap art school for cooking school. He studied by day and worked his ass off by night across environments from Umberto Menghi’s Yaletown hot spot Circolo (see Menghi’s Hall of Fame induction here!) to the fry station at Brew House in GM Place (now called Rogers Arena) just to soak up some experience—and, presumably, a large amount of grease. That combo of skill, work ethic and passion paid off to such a degree that he landed a plum gig at the Four Seasons Whistler without even graduating.

It was the sort of high-end posting that most young chefs would kill for, but while Ma flourished, that desire to continue pushing himself never quieted; instead, it propelled him to New York, where Thomas Haas set him up with a stage at Daniel Boulud’s legendary Daniel. Compared to the stability of Whistler, Boulud’s empire was controlled mayhem: battalions of chefs, huge volume, insanely high expectations, catering crazy high-profile events. Ma loved it so much he stayed for six years.

But the pull of Vancouver and family was strong, so when he heard about a bold new restaurant planned for the Sutton Place Hotel, he quickly hopped on board. He was drawn by the ambition of the venture, the desire to meld high-volume with high-end, and the idea of bringing exceptional seafood to a coastal city oddly lacking in options. His experience in large rooms proved invaluable: working with Alex Chen (our 2018 Chef of the Year), he helped propel Boulevard to the top, winning Restaurant of the Year in 2020 and dominating the upscale and seafood categories. But, accolades aside, Ma thrived in his ability to craft memorable dishes with a sense of place (his quail with Chinese five spice remains legendary), while also playing mentor to his large staff. There are up to 60 people in Boulevard’s back of house, and Ma prides himself in shepherding them in the same way he had been guided through the crucible of Daniel, with everyone raising their level, whether it’s breakfast service for hotel guests or a note-perfect multi-course tasting menu. He beams when describing his chef de cuisine Jay Park’s recent win at the Canadian Culinary Championship (Ma characteristically omitting that he won the same event back in 2020). “It’s not about my story here,” expresses Ma, always sticking to his team-first mantra. But to borrow from ancient texts, sometimes the greatest chef is the one who eschews greatness. In the case of Roger Ma, it makes him our Chef of the Year.

Find more of the best Vancouver restaurants on our list of 2026 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Award winners.