Movies of War

1 of 6 2 of 6 Get the best of Vancouver in your inbox, every Tuesday and Thursday. Sign up for our free newsletter.When Hyeonsu “Bo” Jeon left South Korea at 16, he didn’t leave with a job lined up or a culinary pedigree waiting for him. He left with a conviction: he wanted to be a chef.“I was too young to decide my whole life,” he says now, sitting inside Dahlia at the AZUR Legacy Collection Hotel. “So maybe I should try another country.”What followed was less a straight line and more a test of endurance. Toronto first. Then Australia. Then Japan, where he spent two years training in sushi kitchens known for their precision and discipline. A short internship in the United States. Back to Canada. Niagara. Muskoka. Saskatchewan. New Brunswick. Toronto again.Most of those early moves weren’t glamorous. They were strategic. Visa constraints dictated opportunity. Restaurants were chosen not just for their reputation, but for whether they could help him secure permanent residency. “Until I got my permanent residency, I couldn’t find the proper restaurant,” he says. “After that, I started looking for somewhere I could develop my career.”That shift—from survival to intention—changed everything.In Algonquin Park, at an all-inclusive luxury resort, he worked under a chef who cycled him through every station. “He put me in the position where I could do every station,” Jeon says. It was there he built his technical foundation. From there, a referral landed him in Toronto under Italian chef Daniel Hassell—his self-described “best mentor.”On Valentine’s Day one year, the two of them flipped the entire menu and prepped from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. before service. “We were very happy,” Jeon recalls. “He explained every single step—why we do this, why we do that.” It wasn’t just about food; it was philosophy. The kitchen, his mentor told him, was where he found his happiness, his anger, his entire life.Jeon absorbed that.He later joined Union on Ossington, a French restaurant known for its seasonal, farmer-driven menus. Every day began not with a fixed plan, but with the fridge. “I go in and I look at what we have, and then I go from there,” he says. If he finished service, the next day’s menu became his homework. That constant reinvention sharpened him.Vancouver entered the picture through a familiar name: Alejandro Guido of Fanny Bay Oyster Bar, who had worked with Jeon years earlier. “He always wanted me to grow,” Jeon says. He moved west to help build culture and team. Eventually, an opportunity opened at Dahlia.Dahlia sits inside the AZUR Legacy Collection Hotel, the first and only property in Western Canada to join Leading Hotels of the World—a portfolio of more than 400 luxury boutique hotels globally.When Jeon arrived five months ago, the kitchen wasn’t quite there yet, he notes.“It wasn’t easy,” he says. “The restaurant was not organized.” Before designing menus, he reorganized systems, cleaned, structured the team, rebuilt communication between front and back of house. “Otherwise it’s not going to happen.”Now, Dahlia operates with a clear identity: French Riviera and Italian coastline cuisine, grounded in Canadian terroir. Olive oil over heavy butter. Fresh seafood. Seasonal vegetables. A compact menu that leaves room for expression.You see his journey threaded through it. The char-grilled B.C. king salmon with beurre blanc nods to classical French technique. The spicy seafood linguini speaks to Italian coastal roots. The marinated lamb chops, brushed with herb walnut pesto and pomegranate molasses, hint subtly at the global lens he’s developed over years of movement.But for Jeon, the real menu isn’t always printed.A guest once told him the salmon was the best they’d ever had. Another asked for risotto—even though it wasn’t on the menu. “If you want to try something that we don’t have, just call me,” he says. “I can accommodate anytime.” Ceviche? He’ll build it. A personalized pasta? He’ll create it.That instinct—to adapt, to respond, to make each table feel seen—comes from someone who has spent years adapting himself.“I am trying to chase perfection,” he says. “But in this industry, it’s hard to make perfection. You cannot make all the guests happy.” Still, he chases it. Because in the pursuit, he says, his happiness explodes.What makes Dahlia different for him isn’t just the prestige of the hotel or the refinement of the cuisine. It’s trust. “If the owner is not supporting the chef, the chef cannot do anything,” he says. Here, he feels supported. Trusted. Backed by leadership and by a front-of-house team that brings guest feedback directly to him.For the first time in his career, Jeon isn’t navigating visa programs or chasing stability. He’s challenging himself on his own terms.“This restaurant is very important for me,” he says. “I can challenge myself how far I can go.”Dahlia is located at 833 W Pender Street. Join the discussion Facebook comments not loading? Please check your browser settings to ensure that it is not blocking Facebook from running on straight.com