Chef Hector Laguna makes Pacific Northwest cuisine for Vancouver's diverse community
Chef Hector Laguna’s experience with cooking dates back to when he was a child.
“The first memory I have of food is definitely tortillas,” Laguna recalls. “That was the very first thing I was allowed to take part of in the kitchen at home. It was all of the kids’ job to grind the corn.
“Then my mom would make the tortillas.”
That early appreciation for the act of making food ignited an interest in working in professional kitchens. But it wasn’t until Laguna moved from Mexico to Miami in 2007 that his focus toward his culinary career really became razor-sharp.
Recalling being uncertain as to whether or not he wanted to make “chef” his professional calling or just something to “pay my rent,” Laguna says everything changed when he landed a job under Chef Michelle Bernsten of the restaurant Michy’s.
“Seeing the way she looks at food, the way she cares about it, the way she talks about it, that made we want to do that,” Laguna says. “I wanted to feel that excitement when I talk about food. I stuck around probably a little too much and asked her so many questions.
“When I saw that level of passion I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”
Fast-forward to today, and Laguna is now the executive chef at the award-winning Vancouver restaurant Botanist. It’s a role he has held for nine years.
With Laguna at the helm, the eatery has garnered several accolades, including being named one of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants as well as listed on the World’s 50 Best Discovery. The Botanist bar was ranked No. 26 on the 2025 list of North America’s 50 Best Bars and also earned the Michelin Exceptional Cocktail Award.
While it has yet to earn a coveted
an achievement Laguna admits is in his sights — “I think we deserve a star,” Laguna said of his ambitions — he is staying focused on his main mission of creating memorable dishes.
“I really cook for people to have a good time,” he says. “Not necessarily to get awards and stuff. Although, they are welcome.”
At Botanist, Laguna creates Pacific Northwest cuisine that represents the region, and also its people.
“(It’s) not just the oceans, the fields and the farms, but also the community, which is my favourite part,” he says. “And that comes mostly from diversity.
“Vancouver is full of diversity — Japanese, Chinese, Mexican. So I try to represent those people, as well.”
Working with local farms and producers as often as possible — “They tell me what they have, and then I’m able to build a menu based on what they have,” he says of his partnerships with growers such as Hannah Brook and Local Harvest. “For the vast majority of the year, produce-wise, probably 80 to 90 per cent of what you see on the plate I get from a farm.”
Laguna also looks to seamlessly blend in non-local elements such as spices or herbs.
While the seasonally evolving menu is firmly in line with the chef’s “contemporary-creative” cooking style, he says diners can always expect to see a few favourites in the mix.
“We have ingredients that we use all the time. For example, duck is one of my favourite proteins to cook. Beef is definitely on the menu, always,” he says. “More locally, specifically, wild mushrooms are always here.”
The specials of the establishment focus less on whole dishes, instead highlighting a specific ingredient.
“When guests come to Botanist, I don’t know what they expect, but I can tell you what I offer them,” Laguna says. “Honesty. Honest food that’s flavourful, in a lot of respects.”
Source: vancouversun.com