Macau-born Steven Che is one to watch on Vancouver’s dining scene. The Chinese-Canadian chef talks about storytelling through food

After moving to Vancouver as a child, Chinese-Canadian Steven Che worked at 3-Michelin-star Maeemo in Oslo and in Australia before opening a pizzeria

The 30-year-old up-and-comer opens up about what he learned on his intercontinental culinary journey, his inspirations, and why he’s ‘very rooted in Vancouver’

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Steven Che is one to watch on Vancouver’s dining scene. The Chinese-Canadian chef opens up about his culinary journey so far, his inspirations, and why he’s rooted in the Canadian city he grew up in. Photo: Steven Che

Published: 7:15am, 20 Sep 2023

At a recent dining pop-up in Vancouver, Canada, Chinese-Canadian chef Steven Che looked to his childhood for inspiration.

The 16-course dinner included dishes such as persimmon with toasted soy, black sesame and century egg, sourdough scallion pancake with beef tongue, lap yuk ragout and leek oil, and Dungeness crab porridge with Red Fife sourdough miso.

“It really is just an expression of who I am. And it’s like each dish is rooted in memory, and something I love,” Che says.

It was the 30-year-old chef’s third pop-up and most elaborate yet, and showed his desire to express himself through food.

Che’s dish of Gallo mussels from Salt Spring Island, in British Columbia, Chinese fermented black bean and burnt honey sauce, and foraged bull kelp oil. Photo: Steven Che

Che came to Vancouver from Macau at the age of five with his mother and two older sisters in 1999.

He began cooking in high school, as his single mother was busy working and not good in the kitchen. His interest in cooking came from watching “bad infomercials” like those advertising former boxer George Foreman’s “grilling machine”, Che says.