Meet
Judy
Judy is a chef, historian, and award-winning culinary tourism entrepreneur based in Vancouver, where she runs Historical Chinatown Tours and traditional Chinese cooking classes. With deep family roots in the city and a Master’s degree in history, Judy brings rich cultural insight and personal storytelling to every experience. She is passionate about preserving and sharing Chinese Canadian heritage through food, history, and meaningful connections.
What to expect
Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.
Cooking experience:
(1-20 guests)
DUMPLING CLASS: Begin your private, culinary experience with a brief guided heritage tour of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, led by your host Judy - a chef, historian, and expert in Chinatowns and Chinese culture. You'll explore cultural landmarks, browse a traditional produce shop, enjoy samples from a Chinese tea store, and pop by a beloved Chinese bakery. Judy also offers special access to heritage buildings typically closed to the public, hidden gems you’ll only see on her daytime tours.
After the tour, head to a local restaurant (for daytime bookings) or café kitchen (for evening bookings) for a dumpling-making class. During your hands-on Vancouver cooking class, you’ll learn to make dumplings with Judy. While the organic filling is pre-prepared, you'll receive the full recipes to take home. Choose to pan-fry or steam your dumplings, then pair them with your choice of up to 10 sauces - soy sauce, black vinegar, hoisin, oyster sauce, and more. Finish your meal with a light dessert. You’re welcome to BYOB. Judy is happy to accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, pescatarian - just let her know if you have any dietary preferences when making your booking.
CANTONESE COOKING CLASS: Prefer something beyond dumplings? Judy also offers an immersive Cantonese cooking experience, where you’ll learn traditional stir-frying, steaming, or braising techniques to prepare a Cantonese meal from scratch. A sample menu you learn to cook might include sticky rice with Chinese sausage and mushrooms; green beans with prawns; and
chow fun. Just let her know your preference when booking, otherwise it defaults to a dumpling class. Judy is passionate about preserving the rich culinary traditions of Chinatowns around the world and Cantonese cooking as recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
Food Tour:
(2-15 guests)
FOOD & COCKTAIL TOUR: Chinatown Food Crawl and Cocktail Bar Hop in Vancouver. Join Judy, a culinary-heritage business owner, for a one-of-a-kind 3-hour late afternoon experience exploring Vancouver’s hottest cocktail bars, each paired with global dumpling delights. You’ll visit three award-winning bars, all located in historic Chinatown and each featured on the Top 100 Best Bars in North America list. This is the first time this curated experience is being offered in Canada!
Expect a fun, flavor-packed evening of cocktails, culinary storytelling, and cultural connection – led by Judy, a passionate host who brings Vancouver’s Chinatown to life in a whole new way.
Notes:
1. Unlike most Traveling Spoon experiences, this class takes place in a restaurant or café kitchen, not in a private home. This allows Judy to host you in a professionally equipped space while still offering a warm, personalized, and immersive culinary experience.
2. This venue is wheelchair accessible.
3. Sunday evening cooking classes start at 4:30 pm (not 5 pm).
4. The 1:00 pm experience is not available on Sundays or Mondays, as the venue is closed.
Languages spoken:
English, Cantonese, Spanish, French
Sample menu
Traveler reviews
Judy was amazing, so knowledgeable and sensitive to who we are and what we care about so that our experience was truly personalized! We learned and experienced a great deal about the history and the current life of Chinatown. It was a wonderful (and tasty) experience as a family.
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jennie
August 09, 2026
Judy is a brilliant guide and cook. She has a wealth of knowledge about China Towns across the world and she took us on a trip around them on her iPad. The walking tour round the local China Town was eye opening and we learned so much and very much enjoyed the amazing spring rolls she picked up from the best bakery outside of Hong Kong.
The dumplings we made were also delicious and fun to make.
This isn’t a cheap experience but Julie puts money back into the community and we can see she is highly respected and liked by all so well worth it. Thoroughly recommended.
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sophie
August 07, 2026
Was so pleasantly surprised by the experience! We had a wonderful time and the instructor is amazing! We toured China Town then returned to a closed for the day coffee shop to make the dumplings. Everything was so well done and organized. The dumplings were delicious. I would absolutely recommend this victor activity.
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Janet
July 15, 2026
You learn a lot about the history of the area. Judy was extremely knowledgeable, friendly ,
and caring. After learning about the "neighborhood" we ended up learning how to make
dumplings and got to eat them!
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debbie
June 28, 2026
Judy was an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable snd pleasant to be with. Learned new information about Chinese Culture. The tea tasing was fun. The dumpling making class was great. Hands on experience that resulted in delicious dumplings. Loved that she shared the recipes. Judy's recommendations on local establishments were wonderful. Thoroughly enjoyed this experience.
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andrea
June 28, 2026
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