What would dining in present-day Shanghai be like without this superstar? We can't even imagine. Here's this year's shortlist for the Legend Award. Show your most-loved restaurants, eateries and food personalities you care – and enter for a chance to win a trip to Macau while you’re at it! Click here to vote for your city favourites – shortlisted or not.
Michelle Garnaut
There's no one quite like Michelle Garnaut. While she may not be in the heat of the kitchen on the day to day, the restauranteur and cook has inarguably shaped the city's food scene over the last decade and a half. From opening the first independent restaurant on The Bund (before it was cool) in 1999 – the modern-day landmark M on the Bund – to the more-recent gastrolounge and cultural salon Glam next door, it's always been more than just about the food to Garnaut.
Kelley Lee
With over a decade in the China scene and huge collection of all-star eateries, breweries and cafes to her name – Boxing Cat, Liquid Laundry, Cobra Lily, Sproutworks and Tepito, to name a few – Kelley Lee has an F&B empire. As one of Shanghai’s most dominating, trendsetting forces in food, Lee is an absolute powerhouse of a role model for all women (all people, at that) who are aspiring to succeed in the industry.
Willy Trullas Moreno
Since his arrival in Shanghai ten years ago, Chef Willy Trullas Moreno has been spreading great food and good cheer with his El Willy ‘Fun F&B Group’, a brand that includes elEfante, El Ocho, Tomatito and naturally, El Willy. The exuberant chef and his ‘sexy’ Spanish eats, pop-up food trucks and lively events continue to stir things up in the Shanghai scene, with new concepts and ideas rolling out on the regular.
Paul Pairet
In a competitive, ever-evolving food scene like Shanghai's, a meal’s success relies on details beyond just good food. Diners want innovation, virtuosity, risk and this city’s well-loved culinary star Paul Pairet never fails to deliver – his hold over Shanghai is immeasurable.
Stefan Stiller
Though a personality in Shanghai’s food scene for over ten years now, 2016 was a year of great feats for inventive, inspired Austrian chef Stefan Stiller. With his stunning, meticulously designed and executed menus at Taian Table and the restaurant’s newly earned Michelin star under his belt, Chef Stiller is providing Shanghai with unique spaces and experiences that diners are lucky to have.
Tony Lu
There are only two places in China on the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, and being the land with the saying along the lines of ‘we’ll eat anything with four legs except a table’, the fact that one of those restaurants is vegetarian - Fu He Hui - is a true triumph. With his haute vegetarian Shanghainese, tasting-only menu, Lu is a trailblazer in modern Chinese cooking; and setting high standards for the cuisine’s future.
Scan the QR code below to vote for your favourite chef to win the Legend Award.
