Throwback Thursday: JBF Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Cecilia Chiang

Earlier this week, we announced our 2015 Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year honorees. Today's TBT is a shoutout to restaurateur and Lifetime Achievement award winner Cecilia Chiang, shown here accepting the honor in 2013. Often referred to as the “Julia Child of Chinese food,” Chiang moved from Shanghai to San Francisco in 1960 at the age of 20, and brought with her a fiery passion for good food and good company. Hospitality has always been at the forefront of her efforts, as she explained in her acceptance speech: "You need to care about people and the heart of what I want to do is make my guests happy." Since her earliest days on our shores, Chiang has worked to introduce the American palate to Northern Chinese cuisine, and disprove the notion that authentic Chinese food means Orange Chicken in a take-out box.​

You can read more about Cecilia Chiang and her impressive accomplishments in this essay from the 2013 JBF Awards program.

Learn more about the 2015 James Beard Awards.