The Story of NinjaChef
Toronto-based Nick Liu a.k.a. Ninjachef, is Executive Chef and Owner of award-winning restaurant DaiLo and cocktail bar LoPan. He is renowned for combining traditional French cooking techniques and bold Asian flavours with a heavy influence from his family’s Hakka Chinese roots. He creates exciting, innovative dishes that have achieved cult-like status and gained DaiLo both critical acclaim and consistent popularity as a Toronto hot spot, having recently won accolades from major media publications like Foodism, Toronto Life and Post City.
The Globe and Mail restaurant critic Chris Nuttall-Smith calls DaiLo’s fried watermelon “mind-altering” and “deliciously disorienting,” their iconic Big Mac Bao “a stroke of genius,” their truffle fried rice, “easily the single greatest rice dish in town,” and in reference to the 90-day dry-aged beef, “one of the more baller steak spreads I’ve tried.”
Chef Nick is passionate about the culinary scene in Toronto and believes in the vast diversity of food and experiences just waiting to be enjoyed by Torontonians and visitors alike.
Chef Nick Liu's Roots
Nick is a first-generation Canadian who grew up in Scarborough and Markham. His dad is Chinese from India and his mom is Hakka Chinese from South Africa. There is a deep culinary history in his family, who modified their traditional dishes with local ingredients. They held onto their culture while allowing it to evolve with their new surroundings – a practice that continues to be at the core of Nick’s work.