Hector Laguna

Chef Hector Laguna's culinary philosophy is profoundly rooted in his Mexican childhood, where food was intrinsically linked to family, community, and emotional connection. He recalls the communal act of making tortillas and family dinners as foundational experiences, shaping his belief that cooking extends "a lot more than just cooking." His core ethos centers on leveraging food to create joy, comfort, and satisfaction, aiming to make each guest's evening memorable through a deeply emotional and connective dining experience. His approach is characterized by an unwavering respect for ingredients, stemming from his upbringing on a farm where almost all food was grown or raised in-house. This translates into a strong commitment to local and seasonal sourcing at Botanist; he builds menus around the freshest produce available from local partners like Hannah Brook and Local Harvest, with 80-90% of the produce sourced locally. To further instill this reverence, he takes his entire kitchen and front-of-house teams on farm visits, ensuring everyone understands the journey of ingredients from farm to plate. Laguna also embraces Vancouver's rich cultural tapestry, integrating its diversity into his Pacific Northwest cuisine. While the menu is not strictly Mexican, he often infuses his dishes with flavors from his native Mexico, seeing it as a way to express his identity and allow guests "to get to know me through it." This includes sourcing unique ingredients like epazote, grown specially for him, to evoke personal memories and introduce authentic tastes, while also representing the broader multicultural influences present in Vancouver. Chef Laguna's technical style is best described as "contemporary-creative," prioritizing honesty and flavor while treating ingredients with utmost respect. He eschews over-complication, focusing on cooking each component—whether a beet or a steak—to its absolute best without resorting to modern techniques like sous-vide. His preference leans towards precise, traditional methods that allow the natural qualities of the ingredients to shine through. The menu at Botanist, under his guidance, evolves gradually with the seasons, ensuring freshness and responsiveness to nature's bounty. However, his unwritten tasting menu offers a dynamic platform for free-form creativity, where dishes are crafted spontaneously based on what is available and inspiring. Signature ingredients like Fraser Valley duck, premium beef, and local wild mushrooms are frequently featured. He also artfully blends non-local spices and herbs to complement local produce. Among his standout dishes are a deeply flavorful barbacoa lamb, a recreation of his childhood celebratory meals, achieved through a slow-cooking process utilizing banana leaves. Another example of his signature fusion is a wagyu beef carpaccio accompanied by mojo de ajo, a Mexican garlic-olive oil sauce, showcasing his ability to weave his heritage into fine dining.

Mentored by Michelle Bernsten, Susur Lee, David Lee.