Over 300 Chinese Restaurateurs from all over the U.S. gathered in New York City on November 11 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center to attend the 2007 Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA during the Cultural Food New York, a two-day professional tradeshow showcasing Asian, Hispanic and Kosher food and beverages. Co-Hosted by Martin Yan and Former Contestant of Season One's Top Chef Lee Anne Wong and sponsored by Lee Kum Kee and Western Union, the Asian food industry and notable Asian Americans in New York came out in to honor Chinese restaurateurs and Chinese chefs for their accomplishments.

Lee Anne Wong

Lee Anne Wong is famously known as a contestant on the Bravo hit series Top Chef. She has returned to The French Culinary Institute as the Executive Chef of Event Operations at the French Culinary Institute where she now composes original menus of her modern global fusion style, drawing on her artistic background for inspiration.

Lee Anne Wong and Martin Yan

These days Chef Wong is as busy as ever, recently completing culinary consultation on the new Warner Brothers remake of "Mostly Martha", starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart. Chef Lee Anne is also playing a vital role in the design of The FCI's Culinary Lab, a state of the art laboratory and classroom outfitted with today's most cutting edge technology and equipment. Here, she will work alongside visiting chefs and The FCI's Director of Culinary Technology, David Arnold, in continuing to develop and showcase the next generation of avant garde cooking techniques.

Lee Anne wanted to say hello to all the readers of Asiance. She just flew back from Chicago where she was busy as the producer of Top Chef 4 due to air in January 2008.

Chef Martin Yan

Most of you probably know Chef Martin Yan from his daily Chinese cooking show: the now classic "Yan Can Cook". The celebrated host of over 2,000 cooking shows broadcast worldwide, Martin Yan enjoys distinction as a certified Master Chef, highly respected food consultant, a cooking instructor and a prolific author. His diverse talents have found expression in 26 cookbooks.

Lee Anne Wong and Martin Yan on the panel

Born in Guangzhou, China, to a restaurateur father and a mother who operated a grocery store, Chef Yan possessed a passion for cooking at an early age. A valued instructor at top culinary institutions, Chef Yan has taught at The Culinary Institute of America, Johnson & Wales University, The California Culinary Academy and The Chinese Cuisine Institute in Hong Kong. In 1985, he founded the Yan Can International Cooking School. Also a restaurateur, his Yan Can and SensAsian Restaurants offer inventive pan-Asian menus.

The Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in USA Award show is a national event held annually for the Chinese restaurant industry to bestow recognition to the best Chinese restaurants and cuisine offerings in the U.S., while simultaneously promoting the $17.5 billion Chinese restaurant industry as a whole. The Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in USA award strives to recognize, cultivate and preserve the best in Chinese cuisine standards and excellence.

Participants for The Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in USA Award come from Chinese restaurants all across the country - “ out of more than 43,000 restaurants in 50 states. The event has seen participation from newly established restaurants, seasoned restaurants, chain restaurants as well as past award-winners.

Special presentation

This special event awarded the Top 100 restaurants in 10 categories. Recognition was awarded for excellence in the categories of Overall Excellence, Regional Cuisine, Take-Out, Buffets, Best Value, Signature Dish, Rising Stars, Nutrition-Friendly Menus, Asian Fusion and Metro Favorites. The 2007 Top 100 competition, open to all Chinese restaurants in the U.S., included more than 43,000 from all 50 states. Participating restaurants included newly established restaurants, seasoned restaurants, chain restaurants and past award-winners. For a list of the 2007 winners, please visit http://www.top100chineserestaurants.com.

What is the selection criteria?

All restaurant candidates must meet the following guidelines to quality for the competition:

• 50% of the menu items must be related to Chinese cuisine
• Must be in business for a minimum of 2 years (with the exception of Top 100 Rising Stars)
• Must be the recipient of a minimum of one award, highlighted in the media ranking for dining excellence, or verified by more than 200 valid customer votes.

How are the votes or results tabulated?

• AboutFace's Mystery Diner Program, which will anonymously evaluate each restaurant candidate.
• Direct votes from the diners, online at http://topchineserestaurants.com or at the candidate restaurant location. A vote is valid only when the voter's email address of phone number is included for verification.

For a list of the 2007 winners, please visit
http://www.top100chineserestaurants.com