Alex Chen

Executive chef, signature restaurants, Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar (Sutton Place Hotel)

Dream Vancouver summer day: I’m a big believer in family. Whatever I do, I always want to make sure it involves my wife Liz, daughter Izzy (10), and son Ethan (7). Keeping with that thought, my ideal summer day in the city would probably start in our kitchen at home in Richmond with all four of us making pancakes together. If we wanted to get an early start on the day, however, we’d more than likely head out for dim sum at Fisherman’s Terrace or make our way into the city and grab some coffee and those famous Liège waffles at Café Medina.

We love to get outdoors as much as possible, so for our next stop we’d probably put on our hiking shoes, head over to the North Shore, and go exploring around the salmon hatchery in Capilano River Regional Park. It’s great to get out, connect with nature, and enjoy the fresh air. And the North Shore has some really unbelievable views of rivers, mountains, and oceans—it’s one of the highlights of living in a city like Vancouver.

In the afternoon, we would no doubt end up at one of our favourite haunts—Granville Island. The kids love grabbing an ice cream and strolling the boardwalk (while keeping a close eye on the seagulls) and I can get a chance to make some dinner plans on the fly. I’ll usually grab some things at Oyama Sausage Co., pick up some fresh fish at Seafood City or meat at either Armando’s or Tenderland. Before dinner, we’d take the kids out for a bike ride to Terra Nova Adventure Park, which isn’t far from our home and is one of the kids’ favourite places to visit. Dinner plans? That would be us firing up my Big Green Egg in the backyard or heading over to my neighbour Kevin’s place to hang out with friends and put his massive barbecue to good use.

Best summery Vancouver thing I’ve never done: Two things immediately come to mind. I know it’s outside of Vancouver itself, but I’ve never climbed the Stawamus Chief up in Squamish. I’ve always wanted to, and I’d love to take the kids, but I need to see if I can handle it first. Secondly, I have yet to go foraging for mushrooms in B.C., which is hard to believe. I’m going to fix that this year, however. La Quercia chef-owner Adam Pegg has promised to take us foraging sometime in the summer. I can’t tell you where, though. As Adam says, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”