(Posted November 14, 2007) -- Chef Martin Yan and Top Chef's Lee Anne Wong co-hosted last weekend’s Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA awards ceremony. Held in New York City, the 4th annual ceremony, which serves to recognize and cultivate the best in Chinese cuisine standards, was part of the two-day Cultural Food New York tradeshow.

The 2007 competition was open to all Chinese restaurants in the U.S. and included more than 43,000 entries representing all 50 states. Established by Chinese Restaurant News in 2004, the program recognizes restaurants in 10 categories: Overall Excellence, Regional Cuisine, Take-Out, Buffets, Best Value, Signature Dish, Rising Stars, Nutrition-Friendly Menus, Asian Fusion and Metro Favorites.

In addition to cuisine and restaurant recognition, this year's competition also featured a Mystery Diner program to evaluate candidate restaurants. The winners were chosen from mystery diner feedback, direct votes from diners and the public at large.