He didn’t open a new restaurant in Vancouver this past year, nor is he new to the local culinary industry, but Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar’s executive chef, Roger Ma, has found himself in the limelight after recently returning home with a prestigious accolade.

The Vancouver-born-and-raised chef won gold at this year’s Canadian Culinary Championships (CCC), a two-day national cooking competition held last month in Ottawa that was the finale to its regional counterpart, the Great Kitchen Party. The invite-only gastronomic event consists of three parts (mystery wine pairing, the black box, and the grand finale), creating a rigorous mental and physical process that rewards only the most deserving chefs.

This achievement may not resonate with people outside the professional-cooking sphere, but local chefs and culinary experts who are familiar with the CCC recognize its magnitude and how challenging it can be, which is why they voted Ma chef of the year in the Georgia Straight’s annual industry-insiders survey of more than 50 chefs, food and beverage directors, and restaurant managers. (For the results, scroll to the bottom.)

They often say that being slow and steady wins the race, and those wise words can definitely be used to describe Ma’s journey to culinary success. The 38-year-old Vancouverite originally enrolled in art school, and planned to pursue a career in design.

But having grown up in a large Asian family where food was often a focal point at home and at family gatherings, Ma soon realized he wanted to try his hand at cooking for a living, and eventually attended the Dubrulle French Culinary School (the same year it was bought by the Art Institute of Vancouver).

“Food has always been a part of me. We would always end up at my grandma’s house on weekends and spend the whole day eating and cooking, and at home my mom would cook a lot of Chinese [food],” Ma told the Straight in a phone interview. “[I] haven’t looked back since deciding to go to culinary school. I really enjoy making people happy through food.”

After completing his training, he held positions at Rogers Arena, Umberto Menghi’s former high-end Italian eatery Circolo, and Fifty Two 80 Bistro & Bar at the Four Seasons Resort Whistler.

It was up at Whistler that Ma made many meaningful connections that got him to where he is today: getting connected with Thomas Haas through his chef Jason McLeod would help pave the way for six years at New York’s Michelin-starred Daniel by Daniel Boulud, and meeting chef Alex Chen (his colleague and mentor at Boulevard) through Dan Olson (Railtown Cafe and Catering) would eventually lead him to his current role.

When Ma decided to move back to Vancouver from New York, Chen reached out to him about working together.

“At that time in 2013, Boulevard was just a concept the owners were talking about. Alex wanted me to be a part of it [and] I thought it was going to be a great opportunity,” said Ma. “I was a chef de cuisine, and Alex was the executive chef. We did all the concept development, all the recipes, and setting up the restaurant.”

Ma acknowledges that Boulevard may have had a sleepy start, but it has since won various awards and become one of the most respected fine-dining establishments in Vancouver. He helped propel the restaurant to where it stands now by consistently creating dishes that cater to all kinds of palates, by drawing from his training, experiences, and travels, as well as his Asian heritage.

“For a lot of Asian food, there’s always that sweet, salty, sour element that a lot of other cuisines don’t really have. It’s nice to kind of apply that, whether it’s French, Italian, or Japanese,” explained Ma. “Having that at the back of your head makes your dishes a little more diverse and unique.”

He describes his food as thoughtful and tasty. “I always like to have a story behind whatever I make, either a historical reference or a reason for being on the plate,” said Ma, “whether it’s tradition or inspired by another dish from somewhere else or the circumstances of it.”

At the CCC, Ma’s regional qualifier and grand-finale dish was his B.C. Coastal Terroir, which features a unique marrying of flavours and textures like honey-mussel gratinée, foraged bull kelp, sea-urchin custard, Yukon Gold potato, scallion terrine, and shellfish emulsion.

The inspiration behind his award-winning dish was a boat trip that he took with local seafood purveyor Fresh Ideas Start Here. “It was actually very inspiring being out on the boat and just seeing all the kelp floating in the water, and [how] you could literally pull it out and start eating it,” he recalled. The winning dish pays homage to where he’s from, and showcases the progression of his career.

Ma’s gold medal was not the first CCC win for Boulevard—Alex Chen also took home the top prize in 2018. With him following in Chen’s footsteps within and beyond the kitchen, one has to wonder if Ma has ever felt the need to break out of his colleague’s shadow.

“Him and I, it’s a pretty unique relationship we have. He looks at me as a little brother and I look at him as an older brother,” explained Ma. “For sure, he has a big shadow, but I never felt that I’m trying to make my own voice or something like that. He’s very respectful and supportive of me, so I never felt like at any point I’ve had to fight for my own spotlight.

“I just like to keep my head down and work, and focus on my food and make sure the restaurant is running well and guests are happy,” he added. “Those things are more important to me than the spotlight.”

While Ma will be busy re-creating his competition dishes for a special tasting menu running throughout March, he’ll still have love to spare for the classics in Boulevard’s food repertoire, such as the roasted sablefish (with soy-sake glaze, baby hakurei turnip, and bone-broth emulsion with marinated seaweed). “That’s all I really want to eat on my days off.”

Don’t expect the 2020 Canadian culinary champion to diverge from his current path anytime soon. He’s happy where he is, and has no far-fetched plans to open his own restaurant in the near future. But he does have ambitions to turn the establishment where he works into an institution that can survive for decades to come.

“I just want to continue to evolve Boulevard and evolve myself as a chef and see where that takes me,” said Ma. “I feel like we’re just getting started for what we can really do, and I’m pretty excited for the next few years.”

Industry Picks

Chef of the Year

1. Roger Ma
Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar
845 Burrard Street
604-642-2900

2. Ricardo Valverde
Ancora Waterfront Dining and Patio
Various locations

3. Joel Watanabe
Kissa Tanto
263 East Pender Street
778-379-8078

New Restaurant

1. Published on Main
3593 Main Street
604-423-4840

2. Elisa
1109 Hamilton Street
604-362-5443

3. Oca Pastificio
1260 Commercial Drive

French

1. Le Crocodile
100–909 Burrard Street
604-669-4298

2. Au Comptoir
2278 West 4th Avenue
604-569-2278

3. St. Lawrence
269 Powell Street
604-620-3800

Italian

1. Savio Volpe
615 Kingsway
604-428-0072

2. Cioppino’s Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca
1133 Hamilton Street
604-688-7466

3. Ask for Luigi (tie)
305 Alexander Street
604-428-2544

3. Oca Pastificio (tie)
1260 Commercial Drive

Other European

1. Chambar Restaurant
568 Beatty Street
604-879-7119

2. ¿CóMO? Taperia
201 East 7th Avenue
604-879-3100

3. Autostrada Osteria
Various locations

Chinese

1. Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie
163 Keefer Street
604-688-0876

2. Mott 32
1161 West Georgia Street
604-979-8886

3. Jade Seafood Restaurant
280–2811 Number 3 Rd., Richmond
604-249-0082

Japanese

1. Miku Restaurant
70–200 Granville St.
604-568-3900

2. Yuwa Japanese Cuisine
2775 West 16th Avenue
604-731-9378

3. Masayoshi (tie)
4376 Fraser Street
604-428-6272

3. Kingyo Izakaya (tie)
871 Denman Street
604-608-1677

Indian

1. Vij’s
3106 Cambie Street
604-736-6664

2. Tasty Indian Bistro
Various locations

3. Indian Oven
2006 West 4th Avenue
604-730-5069

Korean

1. Damso Restaurant
Various locations

2. Sura Korean Royal Cuisine
Various locations

3. Maru Korean Bistro
125 2nd Street East, North Vancouver
604-566-6292

Vietnamese

1. Anh and Chi
3388 Main Street
604-878-8883

2. Phnom Penh Restaurant
244 East Georgia Street
604-734-8898

3. Mr. Red Cafe
Various locations
Other Asian

Other Asian

1. Maenam
1938 West 4th Avenue
604-730-5579

2. Phnom Penh Restaurant
244 East Georgia Street
604-734-8898

3. Sala Thai
102–888 Burrard Street
604-683-7999

Latin American

1. Ancora Waterfront Dining and Patio
Various locations

2. Chicha Restaurant (tie)
136 East Broadway
604-620-3963

2. Cuchillo (tie)
261 Powell Street
604-559-7585

3. La Mezcaleria
Various locations

African

1. Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant
2149 Commercial Drive
604-216-1060

2. Arike Restaurant & Cocktail Bar
1725 Davie Street
604-336-9774

3. Simba’s Grill
825 Denman Street
604-974-0649

Vegetarian

1. The Acorn Restaurant
3995 Main Street
604-566-9001

2. Heirloom Vegetarian Restaurant (tie)
Various locations

2. MeeT Restaurants (tie)
Various locations

3. Burdock & Co
2702 Main Street
604-879-0077

Cheap Eats

1. Guu Izakaya
Various locations

2. Phnom Penh Restaurant
244 East Georgia Street
604-734-8898

3. The Dime
Various locations