JBF Awards 2013 – Lifetime Achievement Award: Cecilia Chiang

Client: James Beard Foundation / Bowen and Company
Format: Short Form Event Video
Release: 2013 James Beard Awards
Duration: 4:21

Born near Shanghai and raised near Beijing, Cecilia Chiang stumbled into the restaurant business somewhat by accident and
has since become a culinary icon. Having come to San Francisco to visit her recently widowed sister, Cecilia had no intention of
staying in America. She agreed to help two friends negotiate the lease for a restaurant they were opening because she spoke etter English. After her friends backed out, Cecilia was saddled with the deal. Although she had never run a business, she
stayed on to open the Mandarin in the city’s Russian Hill neighborhood. Cecilia introduced a full-flavored Northern Chinese
menu that initially included more than 200 dishes, then-novelties such as hot-and-sour soup, pot stickers, Peking duck, sizzling
rice soup, and delicate shredded abalone with bean sprouts. The restaurant’s lavish interior, sophisticated décor, and complex
flavors from the Szechwan and Hunan provinces were completely new to San Francisco. Although the Mandarin was initially
unsuccessful—Cecilia faced discrimination as a female business owner and had trouble communicating with Cantonese
suppliers in Chinatown—the restaurant slowly built a following. In 1968, the Mandarin moved to Ghirardelli Square and became
the new hot spot, attracting a star-studded crowd with regulars such as Wolfgang Puck, Jackie Onassis, and James Beard, who
became one of Cecilia’s closest personal friends over unconventional dishes like pig’s feet and pork kidneys.

Executive Producer:
Katherine Linton

Producer:
Genevieve Baker

Editor:
Jillian Buckley

Director of Photography:
Vincent Venturella

Post-Production Supervisor:
Jorge Garcia-Spitz

Production Assistant:
Kelly Rey

Sound Mix:
Ronen Nagel