The Restaurant

Competitive is an understatement when it comes to describing guest chef Alex Chen. This talented chef thrives on culinary battles as a means to challenge and improve himself and his teams. Chen’s resume is filled with credits like Iron Chef winner, Chef of the Year, Bocuse d’Or, Gold Medal Plates, Wall of Chefs, Canada’s 100 Best and many more.  He is a mentor to many, and loves to inspire the next generation of culinary talent while continuing to serve up incredible seafood-forward cuisine. Chen leads the culinary direction at both Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar, and, the most talked about new restaurant in Whistler, Wild Blue.  His commitment to premium ingredients, technique and presentation are sure to inspire both guests and our brigade in this exciting culinary collaboration.  

An absolute force of nature, chef Nuit Regular has transformed the Thai food scene in Toronto through the distinct flavours of Northern Thai cuisine and warm hospitality. 

Nuit and her business and life partner, Jeff Regular, a not so “regular” power couple, continue to make waves in Toronto’s restaurant industry.  Chef Ned Bell and chef Nuit connected over seafood, young talent, hard work and the deliciousness of Canada as joint judges at the 2022 PEI Shellfish Festival and have become fast friends. Regular’s story – Thai nurse turned Toronto restaurant titan is inspirational, exciting and delicious. She has been named a WX Network’s 2022 Top 100 Powerful Women in Canada with the BMO Entrepreneurs Award, and is the recipient of the 2022 American Express Award for Business Leadership. Regular has been a guest judge on MasterChef Canada and Top Chef Canada, Season 9, appeared on Big Food Bucket List, and is a resident judge on Food Network Canada’s Wall of Chefs. 

Upcoming guest chef Joël Watanabe loves to cook and is still passionate about his craft after nearly three decades in the game. Supremely skilled and highly creative, Watanabe is the brainchild of the surprisingly successful culinary collision of Japanese and Italian cuisine at Vancouver’s Kissa Tanto. Here he showcases a unique vision as well as his personal heritage on a plate. Watanabe’s ability to find the common themes of both cuisines and meld them into their most delicious co-mingling expressions has earned the restaurant all kinds of awards. These include enRoute’s Best New Restaurant in Canada in its opening year, an impressive ranking in Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants and one of only eight freshly minted Michelin stars in Vancouver this fall.  Ned Bell and our culinary brigade can’t wait to team up with Watanabe this spring and get creative with this thoughtful industry veteran.

What a year it’s been for guest chef, Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson. The native Manitoban took home a trophy case full of culinary accolades this year including the number one spot on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list for Published On Main, Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards’ Chef of the Year and “Best New” for his wine bar, Bar Susu as well as one of Vancouver’s first coveted Michelin stars. Wow. With a like-minded focus on the best possible closely-sourced ingredients, with a preference for personally foraged, Steiffenhofer-Brandson joins Ned Bell and the Naramata Inn team to present an exciting spring culinary collaboration full of talent, passion and the best local flavour.