Vancouver-based chef joins students in campus kitchens March 23 - 27
When chef Alex Kim (Culinary Arts ’11) speaks of the importance of work-life balance at this stage of his career, you may think that, after all he’s done, he’s earned it.
The NAIT 2026 Hokanson Chef in Residence, and culinary director at the Glowbal Restaurant Group, which includes Vancouver’s renowned Five Sails, has tended to lean toward immersion. Now 35 years old, Kim set the stage for that at just 15, when he decided he needed to leave Seoul, his home.
“I asked my parents to send me overseas so that I can study and adopt different cultures and language,” he says.
As a multicultural country, Canada was perfect. So was Edmonton, which the longtime Jamie Oliver fan knew had a revered culinary program at NAIT. Dad had a friend in town willing to take him in. So Kim committed to a new life, unfamiliar customs, speaking English, and, following high school, to food and little else.
After NAIT, he paid dues in local kitchens. He spent a season researching in Europe, sampling 105 restaurants in three countries. For the Canadian Culinary Championship, he relentlessly refined his (winning) entry. In 2025, he spent a month competing on Top Chef Canada, proudly finishing as runnerup.
It all provided food for thought – lessons he’s excited to share during the five days he’s devoting to NAIT students at the end of March. Before his former instructors came calling, Kim had been settling into a calmer pace to digest all he’s done and learned. But some habits die hard. He was in, ready to put life in B.C. on hold and head back to Edmonton, where it all began.
“I was super stoked,” says Kim. “I didn't need any time to think about it.”
A proudly Canadian chef
That makes sense. Kim’s first instinct is always to fully embrace the craft of cooking.
That may be rooted in his grandparents’ farm back in Korea.
As a kid, Kim sat with his grandmother as she cooked, appreciating that a finished dish originated beyond the kitchen, its ingredients products of the land around him. Watching Chef Oliver, known for his use of fresh, local ingredients, had got him thinking a career may be had in exploring that.
The idea puzzled Kim’s parents. “What is ‘chef’?” they asked him. At the time, he says, “there was no such thing in Korea.” People simply cooked.
Kim has been fascinated by the connection between place, taste and joy ever since – especially with respect to cooking in Canada.
“What sets Alex apart is his respect for Canadian ingredients,” says former instructor Nigel Webber (Cook ’94). “He lets them speak first, then builds around them.”
Indeed, a recent tasting menu at Five Sails reads like an edible map of B.C.: black cod from the Pacific, oysters from the coast, chicken from the Fraser Valley, wild morels from the interior, and berries and wildflowers from mountain meadows.
At NAIT, he’ll focus on this side of the Rockies. “A lot of the menu items that I will be cooking are designed around what's available in Western Canada,” says Kim. “We should be proud of working as Canadian chefs, and we should know how to work well with ingredients that really highlight [regional] textures and flavours.”
That perspective is part of what propelled Kim from being what Webber sees as “a young cook in Edmonton … to the top of the Canadian culinary scene. To bring someone like that back [to NAIT] is powerful for students. It shows them what’s possible in their own careers.”
It has shown his family in Korea what’s possible, too. “Chef” has become a more familiar, even revered, concept for them. Kim’s parents marvel at videos of their son’s success, sharing them with his grandparents.
“They always say they're super proud of their grandson,” he says.
“It’s my time to contribute”
Ever since Kim was a student during chef Susur Lee’s 2011 Hokanson residency, he’s “dreamed of coming back to NAIT as a chef in residence.”
It happened sooner than he would have thought, but he’s had plenty of time to consider how he’s survived and thrived in a physically and mentally demanding industry.
He believes that longevity and resilience is even more attainable for the next generation of chefs.
Kim won’t hide the likelihood from students that their early careers will be as immersive as his was, with long days in busy kitchens.
“They really need to learn as much as possible, [and] absorb all the knowledge from the people they work with.”
But Kim also feels that students should expect those environments to enable that learning, offering more support against burnout, and stronger safeguards against the toxic environments that he experienced.
“I see a lot of chefs are pushing themselves and trying to change the culture,” says Kim.
He wants to see himself the same way. Others already do. In addition to being an exceptional chef, says Webber, Kim “leads with quiet confidence, respect and kindness.”
And, perhaps, generosity. “It’s my time to contribute,” says Kim.
After years of personal development, he’s excited to help others develop, too. Former classmate and friend Francis Flores (Baking ’14, Culinary Arts '12) sees that as one Kim’s strengths.
“Beyond his culinary ability, Alex is a natural leader and mentor,” says the Edmonton Convention Centre sous chef. “He is deeply committed to developing young chefs, not only by sharing knowledge and technique, but by instilling values of discipline, curiosity and pride in craftsmanship.
“Despite working at an exceptional level, he remains approachable, grounded and eager to give back to the next generation.”
As an inadvertent warm up to the week at NAIT, Kim mentored one of his own staff through a regional cooking competition. That chef took away a silver medal. Kim took away the realization that achievement – and personal development – takes many forms.
“I have so much room to improve,” he says, “and to become better as a chef.”