The first-ever dish (at least that’s what he remembers) that Chef Hector Laguna was allowed to take part in making in the kitchen at his home (as a kid) was tortillas. His job was to grind corn, yeah, that’s it.
Today, that kid has grown to become the executive chef at Botanist, which is an award-winning restaurant in the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver. He has held this position for nine years now, and honestly, it has been one worth writing books on.
Trouble, Curious, Competitive
Laguna was born in a very small town in Hidalgo, Mexico. His parents have a farm in Veracruz, so he grew up going back and forth between the two. As a child, in his own words, he was “trouble, curious, competitive.”
Farming runs deep in his family. Laguna says he comes from a big family of farmers, and he even has one story from his childhood to share. When he was about 11 or 12, his dad bought a herd of pigs. There was no car access, so the family brought the pigs home on foot. “It took us two days to get home, so we slept in the wild, surrounded by pigs,” he says. And that was one of the “oddest places he has ever slept.” Kinda silly, tbh, but whatever we say, those farms, the stories, his parents…influenced everything he knows and centers his POV on about cooking.
“When you understand all the work and dedication that goes into what you are cooking, it makes you think harder about better and more productive ways to utilize the ingredients,” Laguna says, “whether it is meat, vegetables, seafood, spices, or whatever else we are cooking with.”
The Helper
Laguna’s first kitchen job was at a Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco called Three Seasons. He worked in receiving, checking that orders came in and that the quality was good, then putting everything in its proper place. After that, he went around helping the cooks. “In short, I was the helper,” he says.
But “even though during that period of time I never got to actually cook, it was there that I first started thinking about the possibility of becoming a cook.” He calls that the most valuable thing he learned there.
A friend had told him the restaurant needed help with prep and putting deliveries away. After a couple of weeks, Laguna realized how much he liked being in the kitchen and watching the cooks work. “I talked to the chef and asked if he could give me an opportunity to cook in his kitchen,” he says. “He said yes, and that was the beginning of my culinary career.”
A Chef Who Looked at Food With Passion
Laguna moved from Mexico to Miami in 2007, and his focus on a culinary career grew sharper there. He still wondered whether cooking would be his calling or just a way to “pay my rent.” Then he got a job under Chef Michelle Bernstein at 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 me 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,’” he says.
From there, he honed his craft in acclaimed kitchens across Miami, San Francisco, and Toronto. He then moved to Vancouver and joined Hawksworth as Senior Sous Chef, before taking the helm at Botanist.
Why Vancouver
Laguna’s connection to Vancouver began on a vacation. He remembers going to Queen Elizabeth Park with his wife in 2012. “While we were looking at the city, I said, ‘I would really like to live here,’” he says. Today his favorite view outside of the kitchen is that same view from the park towards downtown.
His family lives in Kitsilano. “I love how peaceful it is,” he says. “It amazes me how close to downtown we are and yet, you feel like you live in the suburbs.”
When guests visit from out of town, he takes them outside. “We visit the mountains, Stanley Park, the Capilano suspension bridge, you name it. That is my favorite part about Vancouver: being outside.”
A Room Full of Plants
The Botanist is in the Fairmont Pacific Rim, and its Garden is a glass-walled space with 50 different types of plants. Some of them are edible, such as green tea camellia, cardamom, and ginger.
As Guy Saddy puts it, the overall space is “opulent and modern,” with a soothing mix of cool pastels and a luxurious S-shaped banquette. Here, it’s very easy to see that Laguna draws inspiration from the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest to create pretty plates that hide punchy flavors.
Saddy points to the Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with puffed tendon, salsa verde and onion aioli, and the tagliatelle with foraged mushroom and crispy piave cheese. He suggests the tasting menu, and he says to choose the blind option and be surprised by each course. Botanist’s bar has its own fans. It was ranked No. 26 on the 2025 list of North America’s 50 Best Bars and earned the Michelin Exceptional Cocktail Award.
As far as specialty dishes are concerned, Laguna says, “I feel like every dish is special, and I cook with the same integrity no matter what dish it is,” although he does have two favorites from his menu – the charred octopus with asparagus, cauliflower, kohlrabi and chorizo, and the seared sable fish with fermented vegetables, puffed tapioca and an onion nage. His favorite spice is fennel seed. “I think it is very versatile, and complements a lot of other flavors very well,” he says. “It can easily be the main flavor or the background of something else.”
What the Farms Say
Laguna builds his menu around what local growers have ready. “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 percent of what you see on the plate I get from a farm.”
He keeps those relationships close. “I have a very good relationship with the farms around here,” he says. “We are always in constant communication about what is ready for the next week or weeks ahead, and we plan visits to these farms with both front and back of the house teams.” Plus, he wants everyone on his team to see where the food comes from. “It is very important to me that everybody at Botanist see and understand where things come from, and understand the processes before the ingredients go on the plate.”
The result is “very ingredient-oriented and season-driven.”
Cooking for Everyone in the City
Laguna wants his plates to speak for the whole city. “And that comes mostly from diversity,” he says of the cuisine he creates. “Vancouver is full of diversity: Japanese, Chinese, Mexican. So I try to represent those people, as well.”
He also lets in flavors from far away. Laguna blends in non-local elements such as spices or herbs, while a few favorites stay on the menu all year. “Duck is one of my favorite proteins to cook. Beef is definitely on the menu, always,” he says. “More locally, specifically, wild mushrooms are always here.”
The Kitchen Family
For Laguna, his team is almost like his relatives, and with them on board, he wants his kitchen to be “an environment driven by teamwork and accountability. A place where we trust each other, we care about each other, and we help each other.”
When he hires, he looks for “enthusiasm, integrity, respect for themselves, for others, and for food. And of course, creativity and skill.”
One of his proudest moments, he recalls, is when he promoted his senior sous chef, Chef Jayden Kresnyak, to chef de cuisine. “He is very sharp, very curious, creative, and always there to help and guide the team,” Laguna says. “I am very proud of the chef he has become, and I feel incredibly lucky to have him here.”
The team also sits down together. Every New Year’s Day, Botanist serves brunch, and between brunch and dinner the staff gathers for a family meal. One year it was roast turkey, roasted vegetables, pommes purée and gravy. His sous chef Tushar did much of the work. “It was so good,” Laguna says.
Monday Dinners at Home
At home, Laguna cooks with his wife, Joelle, and their two sons. His youngest, Liam, likes to pretend he is the sous chef. Lucas helps too, though Laguna says “it is more like he is doing his duties as part of the family.”
On Mondays, the family picks one country and cooks its food. “While we cook, we listen to said country’s music and read about its history and culture,” he says. “It is a lot of fun. Big successes and failures there!” Weekend breakfasts are a little more formal, with cheese, eggs, good sourdough bread, bacon, waffles or pancakes. On special occasions, he says, “We do chilaquiles!”
Laguna says nothing keeps him up at night, and his wife jokes that he does not fall asleep; he turns off. His dad has a saying that guides him: “no te preocupes, ocupate.” In English, it translates to “don’t worry about problems, fix them.” Every year he and his family try to visit his parents and brothers in Mexico, at least once and ideally twice. “It is very important for me that my kids have a good relationship with my parents and brothers,” he says. He always comes back with candy.
Honest Food
Under Laguna, Botanist has earned a place on the World’s 50 Best Discovery list and been awarded the CAA/AAA Four Diamond distinction. He admits there is one award still missing. “I think we deserve a star,” he says of the Michelin star Botanist has yet to earn.
Still, he keeps his focus on the people at the table. “I really cook for people to have a good time,” he says. “Not necessarily to get awards and stuff. Although they are welcome.”
“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.”
