Modern. Avant-guard. Cutting edge. Quang Dang, executive chef of Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver’s Diva at the Met brings his Pacific North-west style to the table with a contemporary flair. This hot, up-and-coming chef was raised in Calgary, Alberta with family roots that stretch back to Scotland and the orchards and rice fields of Vietnam. It was this very diverse cultural background that trained him and inspires him to this day to mix and match flavours and technique.
Dang’s journey began after he moved to Vancouver in 1999 to finish his engineering degree at Kwantlen University College in Surry, B.C. and to fulfil a dream to train for the Olympics with Canada’s national field hockey team. His plan was to follow in his father’s foot-steps into engineering and biology, but he quickly became distracted by an unexpected passion for food while working in the hospitality industry. From refreshment vendor at the Calgary Stampede, he migrated to an “after-school and weekend” senior line cook at one of Calgary’s busiest restaurants called Joey Tomatoes Med Grill. Considering other intriguing stats like his Grade 10 in Royal Conservatory piano, an accomplished speed skater and a goalie for Canada’s national field hockey team, it seemed that this ambitious young man could conquer anything.
It was at Joe Forte’s in Coquitlam in 1998 that Chef Dang met his first mentor, Kathleen O’Connor, the restaurant’s chef de cuisine. She taught him the strategies and discipline necessary to run a high volume kitchen. It was here too that he came to the attention of Chris Mills who was doing product development for the chain. Mills saw in Quang the raw talent and drive needed to take it to the top. He later brought Quang to work with him at the award-winning Diva at the Met, which became a “point-of-no-return” for the budding young chef. It was during this time that Dang decided to forgo his future in engineering and to pursue his passions in the culinary world.
During this important time, Dang completed a 3½ -year apprenticeship at Diva. He also participated in a number of international food competitions such as the 2003 Bocuse D’Or in Lyon France, and the National Chaine des Rotisseurs in Winnipeg in 2002. His reputation began to spread like wildfire throughout Vancouver, eventually turning the head of David Hawksworth of West Restaurant. Hawksworth came to Diva one afternoon and requested Quang cook for him. Shortly thereafter, Quang moved to become junior sous chef at West, where he began to take his career to the next level.
West educated Quang on what it took to launch a high-end restaurant. The experience taught him leadership, fuelled his passion, increased his talent and earned him credibility. All things that contributed to his monumental success when opening Rare One, where he took on his first experience as restaurant chef. Here he began to focus on local ingredients, rare products and rare cooking techniques.
In 2006, the buzz surrounding Quang began to rise. With food-lovers flocking to his restaurant, this distinguished young chef caught the attention of more food notorieties in Vancouver - this time, Harry Kambolis, owner of C, Nu and Raincity Grill and Executive Chef Robert Clark. Dang dazzled them with his understanding of seafood and the company’s food philosophies. An advocate of sustainability and a champion of West Coast cuisine, he spent three years with C Restaurant as executive chef de cuisine where he, arguably, produced the most definitive seafood restaurant in the country.
Today, Chef Dang has come full circle. Returning to the very place he began his career, Quang returns to Diva, bringing his expertise and ballsy approach to bring a new definition to one of Vancouver’s most elegant dining rooms. Dang has brought even greater influences of sustainability to the restaurant, including sustainably harvested seafood, local farmers and hand-crafted ingredients from the pacific north-west.
