Max Wang/Shanghai Daily news

In an avant-garde restaurant inside the Super Brand Mall opposite the Bund, a group of Shanghai’s best known gourmet food critics gathered to launch the Best Restaurants of the Year, an activity organized by the Modern Weekly magazine.
The annual search for winners will run for two months, scanning more than a thousand restaurants in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. A panel of more than 15 judges, including Cai Lan, Yue-Sai Kan, Chen Youjian, Shi Yangde, Ouyang Yiji and Jiang Liyang, will select winners based on the merits of their cooking, service, decor and cultural ambience.
The voting result will be announced in late December.
According to Olivia Liu of Modern Weekly, about 60 to 70 Shanghai restaurants will be selected for awards given in nine categories from Sichuan and Cantonese cooking to French, Italian, Japanese and Southeast Asian cuisines.
Last year’s winner, Yu Xiang Ren Jia, a modern restaurant in Beijing serving quintessential Sichuan dishes, recently opened a Shanghai outlet in the Super Brand Mall and hosted the launch party there with a tantalizing array of it’s artistic and sensuous dishes.
The Best Restaurants of the Year event is sponsored by Martell & Co.
“Shanghai is a world-class city with many world-class restaurants. The award will help promote the city’s catering business and provide people with a guide to top restaurants in the city,” said Olivia Liu, adding that Modern Weekly magazine and
Martell & Co. will publish a gourmet map with an introduction to each winner.