Vancouver's Botanist appoints Amanda Healey as executive chef after seven years in Sydney

Amanda Healey has been appointed executive chef at Botanist in Vancouver's Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, taking over from Hector Laguna, who served in the role for nine years.

Laguna's last collaboration at the restaurant was April 23 with the team from ARCA to create a six-course menu. Healey joins Botanist after seven years in Australia, where she worked as sous chef at Oncore by Clare Smyth in Sydney, a restaurant that holds Australia's coveted three-hat award.

Healey's approach emphasizes provenance and restraint. "It's B.C. first, Canada second, and world third — and even then that has to be justified," she said. Her menu at Botanist will feature beef from Prince Edward Island with peas and horseradish, hand-rolled linguine with Parmesan velouté and winter truffle, and scallop dishes where she carefully chooses each microgreen — she pulls her team of 20 if they select mizuna rather than a more appropriate peppery nasturtium or dill.

Before Sydney, Healey spent seven years in Vancouver, working at the now-shuttered Royal Dinette and Hawksworth Restaurant. Chef and owner David Hawksworth welcomed her return, saying her time in Sydney's vibrant culinary scene "will undoubtedly have served her well."

Healey, originally from England, moved to Australia during high school and later trained at the International Boatbuilding Training College in Suffolk, England — before discovering her path in kitchens. She has worked at Quay under Peter Gilmore in Sydney and at Mount Mulligan Lodge, a luxury resort in Queensland.