Ben Denham

The Climb

A kitchen career often reads as a sequence of rooms, roles, and recalibrations; in Ben Denham’s case, the throughline is accumulation. The early footing came through White Lily Diner in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he served as co-owner until 2024. What that progression shows is a chef moving with intention rather than noise. Ben Denham’s current portfolio spans Xian Xiong Qi and Sundays, and the combination matters: one title places him in a kitchen tied to Minnan-style seafood, the other in an Ontario dining room that later earned Michelin Green Star recognition.

Today

The restaurant’s Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024, 2025, and 2026 marks a sustained standard rather than a one-off moment. For a chef, repeat recognition like that says the kitchen has held its line, year after year, under the same basic expectations. At Sundays, the Michelin Green Star recognition in 2025 sits alongside that ownership, placing Denham in a different but still measurable part of the trade. The Toronto years remain part of the record through White Lily Diner, but the active titles have moved on.

Signature

Denham’s signature dishes include peanut worm salad, braised carpet shark belly, Southern Breakfast, and homemade donuts. Read together, they point to a kitchen that doesn’t stay in one register for long. There is seafood with edge, breakfast food with reach, and pastry with direct appeal — a mix that suggests comfort is part of the plan, but not the whole brief.

In Their Words “I joke that a lot of inspiration came from Waffle House.” The line lands because it names a source without dressing it up. It points to an approach that takes everyday diner food seriously enough to mine it for structure, memory, and utility, which is often where a lot of real kitchen thinking starts.

Recognition

Ben’s honors include Michelin Green Star (2025), Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025), Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024), and Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024).