Raised in Canada’s capital with French and Japanese roots, Chef Joël Watanabe embodies the multicultural spirit of Vancouver.
His MICHELIN-recommended restaurant Bao Bei has served Chinese cuisine with French techniques for 15 years, and Kissa Tanto has brought together some of the best of Japanese and Italian flavors for over a decade. With thoughtfully creative dishes like plum wine-soaked tofu tiramisu, the restaurant has rightfully earned One MICHELIN Star every year since The MICHELIN Guide first debuted in Vancouver. Both restaurants celebrate the region’s delicious local ingredients, from foraged mushrooms to celeriac.
Below, we spoke to Chef Watanabe about his favorite restaurants in Vancouver and his own impact on the city’s dining scene.
What makes the Vancouver dining scene special?
There's a real density of quality food for such a small population. We have a very exceptional, world-class dining scene. For the amount of people that live in this city, it far exceeds the ratio of good restaurants to residents. Really amazing Chinese food. The last 15 years have really become quite impressive.
How would you describe Canadian cuisine?
A real hodgepodge of immigrant food, just like anywhere in North America because we're all new to this land at some point.
What’s your overall favorite restaurant in Vancouver?
I'm mostly just working at my restaurant, so I don't get out too much, but La Quercia for a long time has been one of my favorites.
For a classic Vancouver meal?
Bao Bei has been around for 15 years. If you ask a lot of people where they would bring people, it's usually in their top five list for a kind of classic Vancouver restaurant. It’s a good meal.
For simple comfort food?
I like to go to a little Vietnamese restaurant right near my house called Le Pho, which is on Hastings.
For pasta?
Magari by Oca, which is a pastificio that was owned by my old sous chef who unfortunately passed away. The pasta is very good.
Favorite hotel?
I like the Pan Pacific. Beautiful views over the harbor.
Where to go on a day off?
There is a little market on Nanaimo called Renzullo Food Market. It is fantastic. Owned by a lovely couple. It's been in her family for 62 years. I go there for espresso. I buy some olive oil. They always have all kinds of cheeses. They have a little deli. Maybe I'll have a panino. Just a great community place where everybody likes to hang out from the neighborhood.
What does Kissa Tanto add to the Vancouver dining scene?
We've always just been different as a restaurant company, including Bao Bei from 15 years ago, Kissa Tanto over nine years old, and now Meo, our newest place downstairs. We're always trying to keep it interesting. I generally don't like to follow trends. I don't really pay attention to other people's food so much. I stay in my imagination or in my lane.
What’s been your favorite memory at Kissa Tanto?
I'd be hard pressed to beat our first year of operations there with our little team. And then, of course, winning our first Star was a very memorable – incredible feeling and accomplishment.
Who would you invite to eat at your restaurant that hasn’t dined there yet?
Anybody I respect in this business, which would include most chefs.
What would you like your legacy to be?
I was an exacting chef that eventually became much kinder and patient. That I'm good to people, that we’re good to our employees. That I was a good father. That I did something different for the restaurant scene. That I left a mark on the restaurant scene in terms of dining and how people saw food.
What’s next for you?
I'm open to all kinds of possibilities. I'm always open to a conversation with somebody who's interested in doing something somewhere in the world. I love to travel, so it'd be a nice excuse to go to another country on a regular basis.
Hero image: Diplomat Efendi / Joël Watanabe
