Eighteen Years at the Table: Our CFO Lee Man Named Premier Visionary of the Year at the 2026 Chinese Restaurant Awards

Eighteen Years at the Table: Our CFO Lee Man Named Premier Visionary of the Year at the 2026 Chinese Restaurant Awards

Posted on September 25, 2026

On September 23, the Chinese Restaurant Awards held its 17th annual ceremony at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver. The evening recognized outstanding Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants, dishes and chefs across Canada and the United States. Among this year's Canadian recipients was someone many of us see every day: our Chief Financial Officer, Lee Man, who received the Premier Visionary Award of the Year.

 
Destination Auto Group was pleased to support this year's Awards as a Vision Partner, and especially pleased to see one of our own receive this distinction.
 

Involved Since the Beginning

In addition to his career in finance, Lee has been a respected figure in Canada's food community for many years. A food critic and writer, he was one of the founding judges of the Chinese Restaurant Awards when they launched in 2008. He currently chairs the 21-member Canada Taste Advisors Panel, which determines the Elite 30 Canada rankings, and has long served as a judge for Vancouver Magazine's Restaurant Awards.
 
Lee's interest in this work began at home. Having grown up in a Chinese household in Vancouver, he saw early on how local ingredients and Asian cooking techniques could combine to produce an exceptional local cuisine. When the Awards were established, he wrote of wanting to share "this knowledge with the greater dining public," including diners of every background.
 

 

About the Award

The Premier Visionary Award is presented to an individual whose contribution, leadership, innovation or strategic vision has brought lasting change to Chinese dining and inspired the next generation of industry leaders.
 
In presenting the award, Chinese Restaurant Awards CEO Rae Kung spoke about Lee's 18 years of involvement with the organization. She noted that when food media visit Vancouver, it is often Lee who takes them to local restaurants, introduces them to the chefs and explains why the food merits the trip. For those of us who work alongside Lee, it was gratifying to hear how highly his work is regarded within the industry.
 

Why We Became a Vision Partner

At Destination Auto Group, we often say that at the end of the day, our business is more about the people than the cars. That applies to our customers, to the team members who keep our operations running, and to the Lower Mainland communities we have served since 1983.
 
The Chinese Restaurant Awards are, in the same way, about people: the chefs, owners and kitchen teams whose work brings others together around the table. Many of this year's recipients are located here in Metro Vancouver, and several have been operating for decades. As a family-owned business, we value that kind of consistency and long-term dedication. Serving as a Vision Partner allowed us to support that work and to recognize a colleague who has devoted nearly two decades to it.
 

 
"Our customers and our team live, work and eat all across the Lower Mainland, and the restaurants the Awards celebrate are part of those same communities. Supporting the Awards, and seeing Lee recognized for helping put them on the map, felt like supporting our own backyard."
 
— Christian Dubois, Chief Operating Officer, Destination Auto Group
 

Congratulations to This Year's Recipients

Lee would be the first to say the evening belonged to the chefs and restaurants. We extend our congratulations to Mott 32, which placed first on the Elite 30 Canada list, and to this year's Canadian individual award recipients: Braden Chong, Rising Star Chef of the Year; Wu Zhen Jun, Dim Sum Chef of the Year; and Franky Yeung, Master Chef of the Year. We would like to thank Rae Kung and the Chinese Restaurant Awards team for an exceptional evening.
 
The complete Elite 30 Canada list, including dishes recommended by the Taste Advisors, is available at chineserestaurantawards.com. We expect Lee would be glad to offer a few recommendations of his own.
 
Congratulations, Lee.