Yan Can Still Cook



Chinese Restaurant News presented the Lifetime Achievement award to Chef Martin Yan at the 5th Annual Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA Awards Show at the Rio All‐ Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 5, 2009. The Top 100 Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence recognizes outstanding individuals in the Chinese restaurant industry whose pioneering spirit and demonstrated inventiveness throughout their careers has improved the restaurant industry and inspired others. "Chef Martin Yan is an icon within the Chinese restaurant industry because he paved the way for so many Chinese chefs and restaurateurs by introducing Chinese cuisine to mainstream America," said Betty Xie, Editor‐in‐Chief, Chinese Restaurant News. In 1978, Yan pioneered the now infamous "Yan Can Cook" television cooking show which now airs internationally in over 50 countries. A celebrated cooking show host, restaurateur, food consultant, cooking instructor, prolific author, and an American Culinary Federation certified Master Chef, Yan will be the first recipient of Chinese Restaurants News Lifetime Achievement Award. (From left to right: Betty Xie, Editor‐in‐Chief, Chinese Restaurant News, Master Chef Martin Yan, Bob Ansara, Director Emeritus, National Restaurant Association, and Theresa Lin.)

Photo by Lia Chang