Grand Hotels magazine joined hands with popular English-speaking cooking program“You are the Chef”and China’s major web portal Sina.com to launch the second culinary award-giving ceremony on Nov. 28, 2008, which was expected to be even more impressive than the previous one held a year ago. Chef of the Year Award is its top award. The winners were voted by TV viewers and readers of both print and online media as well as by the Host and producers of“You are the Chef”and editors of Grand Hotels. Viewer’s rates also contributed to the final results.

　　It was beyond doubt a luxurious event, with one culmination after another adding to the festive atmosphere. The awards went to their respective recipients at the presence of an enthusiastic audience. Of the thirty-eight candidates vying for the Chef of the Year Award, only one received the greatest honor. Nineteen candidates won the various awards besides the biggest one, and consolation prizes were given to the remaining eighteen. The winners have all lived up to the expectations. The Chef of the Year Award 2008 was presented by Mr. Sun Wei, Executive Director of the International Channel of Shanghai (ICS). Other presenters included Mr. Hartmut Schaller (General Manager, Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel), Ms. Hu Yue (Editorial Director, East China of Sina.com), Mr. Alsen Hsien, a long-time reader of Grand Hotels magazine. Mr. Craig Aldous (General Manager of Elders Fine Foods Limited), Mr. Duccio Alabiso, (Senior Manager - Corporate Development of Sinodis) , Mr. Wang Li Jun (Deputy Director of ICS) and Mr. Li Yi (Deputy Director, ICS)

　　Around 270 guests, comprised of general managers of the international branded hotels in Shanghai, F&B directors and executive chefs with the luxury properties in Sanya, Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou, high-ranking executives of the Fortune 500 multinational companies and foreign consuls-general in Shanghai, government officials and the representatives of top media in town, were present to witness the award-giving ceremony, which also included an extravagant dinner party and live entertainment. All the winners received congratulations from the enthusiastic guests, who spent a memorable happy evening at the Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel which played host to the event.

　　First broadcast on July 7, 2002,“You are the Chef”is a popular English-speaking cooking program produced by Dragon TV’s foreign languages center. Every episode features an easy-to-cook food delight prepared by Host Heidi, a native of Australia, and a seasoned hotel chef. It is now shown on ICS at 18:45 weekdays (starting early 2008). A lifestyle program targeting white-collar foodies and interested housewives,“You are the Chef”is considered the epitome of hotel food and fashion in Shanghai and elsewhere in China. Viewers can relish flavorful hotel offerings at home.

　　Since March, 2007 when it began cooperating with“You are the Chef”, Grand Hotels magazine has been making good use of its abundant hotel resources, carefully selecting from the luxury hotels in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and talented hotel chefs in the hope of showing the best of the city’s hospitality and culinary scene to the viewers and readers, who are now able to access“You are the Chef”via TV, magazine and the internet. It is committed to discovering more great hotels and promising chefs in the future, and showcasing the diversity of hotel food and beverages to a bigger readership.