Craig Stowe, Director of the Chinese Restaurant Awards, unveiled the categories and introduced the judges for the second annual Edgewater Casino Chinese Restaurant Awards (CRA) at a luncheon co-hosted by Tourism Richmond, held today at the Jade Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. “These are the first awards of its kind in North America to recognize the excellence of Chinese culinary arts by awarding also particular dishes, not just restaurants. This cuisine exerts an important influence on the culinary culture of Metro Vancouver and is one of the reasons Vancouver is recognized world wide as the Chinese gourmet capital outside of China. We could not have been more delighted by the success of the first year,” says Mr. Stowe. “More than 7,000 diners cast their ballots last year. The dining public, from high-school students to elders, discussed the merits of the restaurants and preparation of various dishes. Given the level of last year’s interest, and with HSBC Bank Canada and Tourism Richmond on board as our partners, we are expecting even greater public participation this year.”
The CRA are divided into two components: The Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Awards and the HSBC Diners’ Choice Awards.
For the Critics’ Choice Signature Dish component, the judging panel is comprised of food professional and journalists who possess a strong knowledge of Chinese cuisine. “They have to understand the cooking methods, history and traditions of Chinese food,” says panel Chair, Stephanie Yuen. “This is really important. It creates a level judging field where they all share the same criteria.” Upon joining the panel, each judge receives a directory of the more than 400 Chinese restaurants in Metro Vancouver. By mid September, they have submitted three to five nominees for each category. Then all the judges go out and taste each other’s recommendations. This goes on through November, when they meet to vote on the 25 Gold and 25 Silver Signature Dish winners.
The HSBC Diners’ Choice Awards allows the public to also participate. From the original list of nominees and other suggestions by the judges, between 10 to 20 restaurants are then selected to be included in each of the 15 different award categories. The public votes on-line for its choices. Voting is open as of today at www.votedinerschoice.com and continues until November 15th.
The winners will be announced on January 27, 2010 at an Awards Ceremony held at the Edgewater Casino’s Stadium Club.
The public are encouraged to start dining and cast their votes.
The CRA wishes to thank the following partners who make the Awards possible: Edgewater Casino, HSBC Bank Canada, Tourism Richmond, CBC TV and Radio, China Eastern Airlines, Underwater Harvesters Association, Klip Magazine, 818Channel, Edible-Britishcolumbia.com, Westca.com, Aperture Photography, Chinese Canadian Chefs Association and the Vancouver Multicultural Society.
For more information on the Edgewater Casino Chinese Restaurant Awards: www.chineserestaurantawards.com
To cast your vote: www.votedinerschoice.com
For updates, visit the CRA’s Facebook page
Attachments: Judges’ bios, Award Categories, Judges’ photo (L-R: Brenda Lo, Stephanie Yuen, Conrad Leung, Lee Man, Margaret Gallagher, Brendon Matthews ; Missing – Iris Yim, Nathan Fong)
