Cecilia Chiang accepting her 2013 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in New York City.

Cecilia Chiang with her son Philip Chiang, founder of the popular chain, P. F. Chang Chinese Bistro, at the James Beard Awards Ceremony.

Cecilia Chiang accepted her James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award in an authentic Qing-era red brocade qipao.

Culinary icons Chiang and Waters, here in a scene from director Wayne Wang’s documentary, Soul of a Banquet, both changed America’s food tastes and style.

The evening’s hosts: Ruth Reichl, Cecilia Chiang, and Alice Waters, who was named Best Chef in America by the James Beard Foundation in 1992 and won the James Beard Humanitarian Award in 1997.

Alice Waters with former Chez Panisse chef David Tanis and Jeanne Lawrence. Waters became a giant force on the American food scene when she founded the farm-to-table dining movement upon opening Chez Panisse in 1971.

Ruth Reichl, former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and restaurant critic for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, also features prominently in the film.

Chiang speaks English in the beginning of the film, but reverts to her native Chinese (Mandarin dialect) to more fully express the emotional parts of her story.

Director Wayne Wang with Soul of a Banquet executive producer Jonathan Bing.

Best known for directing the film The Joy Luck Club (1993), based on Amy Tan’s best-seller, Wayne Wang was an ideal choice to direct the documentary celebrating Asian-American food.

Chiang’s granddaughter Alisa Chiang, author Amy Tan, Cecilia Chiang, and Chiang’s niece Ping Chen Chiang.

I was delighted to reconnect with Chiang, who appeared as a guest on a cooking show I hosted on KCBS TV (way back when!).

Chiang has written a memoir, The Mandarin Way (Little Brown, 1974), and an autobiography with recipes, The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco (Ten Speed Press, 2007).

As a child in Beijing, Chiang was not allowed in the kitchen, where the family had one cook from the north and one from Shanghai, but she learned about food at the dinner table, where each dish in elaborate multi-course meals was critiqued.

Chiang escaped Beijing during the Japanese occupation in 1942, traveled throughout China, and in l949 fled to Japan during the Communist takeover.

Chiang was the seventh daughter in an upper-class family of ten children; pictured here are eight of the daughters, one brother, Mom and Dad, and sister number two’s husband and daughter, at home in Beijing.

In 1960, Chiang visited a widowed sister in San Francisco, settled there, and began her career in the restaurant business.

As a new immigrant to San Francisco, Chiang says she was treated like a foreigner in the Chinese community, as she spoke Mandarin while most spoke the southern Cantonese dialect.

The Mandarin introduced Americans to authentic Chinese cuisine from Shanghai, Sichuan, and Beijing, all places Chiang had lived.

Ghirardelli Square, where The Mandarin once stood.

The elegant interior of The Mandarin’s second location was a far cry from the typical Chinese takeout joint.

Chiang helmed The Mandarin until 1991, at which point she sold it and retired.

With The Mandarin, Chiang revolutionized Chinese food in America, refusing to serve inauthentic dishes she regarded as peasant food created by non-professionals. Instead, she cooked the northern Chinese dishes of her childhood.

The most popular dishes were the Peking duck and tea-smoked duck, pan-fried dumplings, spring rolls, beggar’s chicken, and Sichuan spicy eggplant. (My mouth is watering as I write this.)

A successful entrepreneur in addition to being a fabulous cook, Chiang led The Mandarin’s kitchen, oversaw the food quality, and helped her guests navigate the exotic menu.

Cecilia Chiang with her close friend, the late chef and food writer James Beard, in the 1970s. Though he was famously dedicated to American cuisine, “he really loved Chinese food,” Chiang recalled, “as his mother had hired a Chinese chef to cook for the family.”

James Beard and Cecilia Chiang (center). Sadly, Beard didn’t live to see his friend receive the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award, given to those who make “a long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and/or think about food in America.” He would have been proud of her.

In its day, The Mandarin was the most elegant, glamorous, and unquestionably the best Chinese restaurant in San Francisco—and perhaps in America.

Located in Rincon Center, the historic former post office building, the Chinese restaurant Yank Sing was founded in 1958 by Alice Chan, a friend of Chiang’s for many years.

Yank Sing has been described by Zagat as “the pinnacle of San Francisco dim sum.”

Cecilia Chiang welcomed guests to the banquet. As I expected, it was a total winner of an evening, especially the food.

The meal began with cold dishes, including Spinach & Bean Curd Salad, Fresh Bamboo Shoots, Wok-Tossed Asparagus with Ginkgo Nuts, Oyster Sauce Double Mushroom, Black Wood Ear with Goji Berry, and Five-Spice Peanuts.

Next we were served an array of hot foods, including the delicious Candied Walnut Prawns (shown here) and Virginia Ham with Poached Chicken over Gai Lai.

The Szechuan dish Tea-Smoked Duck involves smoking a marinated duck over tea leaves and twigs of the camphor plant.

We also enjoyed a favorite of Chiang’s mother, Red Cooked Pork Belly with Bun.

The last entrée was Sweet and Sour Crispy Rock Cod with Pine Nuts. Fish have symbolic significance in China, because the word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for riches or abundance.

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, director of such revered films as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, was among the guests at the film premiere and Yank Sing banquet.

Carolyn Ferris, Doug Biederbeck, owner of BIX restaurant and supper club, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, and Kim Bachmann.

Alice Waters and Jeanne Lawrence.

Michael Murphy, William Lee, and Jennifer Chen-Manwell.

Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society Ted Hope.

Cecilia Chiang, back at the helm to recreate some of her specialty dishes, gave Chef Andy Tsai the “thumbs up.”

The annual James Beard Foundation Awards took place in New York at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, across from the Opera House.

The Awards attract hundreds of culinary stars and their admirers from around the country. The chefs weren’t always immediately recognizable since they were out of their customary whites and in glamorous gowns and proper tuxedos.

James Beard Foundation president Susan Ungaro welcomed the crowd.

Television and stage actor Oliver Platt (brother of New York Magazine restaurant critic Adam Platt) made his debut as host.

Julian Niccolini (right), co-owner of the Four Seasons Restaurant, joined his pal, restaurateur-chef Mario Batali, in sporting Batali’s signature orange Crocs.

Andrew Sneyd (left) of sponsor Stella Artois, with acclaimed chef Thomas Keller (French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon). Keller served as consultant and voiced a small role in Ratatouille, one of host Oliver Platt’s favorite food movies.

Tim Brown of sponsor Nestle Waters with domestic diva Martha Stewart.

Cecilia Chiang wore red, a lucky color in Chinese culture, to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rising Star Chef of the Year was awarded to Danny Bowien of San Francisco and (as of 2012) New York’s Mission Chinese Food.

Best New Restaurant went to San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions; Chefs Nicole Krasinskil and Stuart Brioza accepted the award.

Christopher Kostow, of The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena’s Meadowood Resort, took Best Regional Chef–West.

Wylie Dufresne, of wd~50 on NY’s Lower East Side (and the recently opened Alder), won the regional award for Best Chef–New York City.

New York darling David Chang (at podium), of the East Village’s Momofuku Noodle Bar, tied with Paul Kahan (left), of Chicago’s Blackbird, for Outstanding Chef.

Mario Batali’s Del Posto won for Outstanding Service, and the restaurant’s Brooks Headley (pictured here) won the honor for Best Pastry Chef. I was amazed to learn that more than 200 people work in the kitchen of this Italian restaurant in the Meatpacking District.

Outstanding Restaurant went to Greenwich Village farm-to-table standout Blue Hill. Chef David Barber said the kitchen staff has more than 100 years of experience among them.

Outstanding Restaurateur winner was the chic Maguy Le Coze of New York’s haute cuisine favorite Le Bernardin, who said how touched she was to be the first woman so honored.

New Orleans’ Emeril Lagasse won Humanitarian of the Year for his Emeril Lagasse Foundation, which creates opportunities for disadvantaged children in the U.S.

The awards ceremony was followed by dinner, where guests could sample dishes prepared by well-known chefs and inspired by the movies. Armed with my camera, I went in search of Bay Area attendees.

Jeanne Lawrence with New York restaurateur Sirio Maccioni, of Le Cirque, Circo, and Sirio, and chef Gary Danko.

Young chefs from around the country assisted at the event.

San Franciscan chef Traci des Jardins of Jardinière presented tortilla soup, inspired by the film of the same name. Des Jardins won the JBFA for Best Chef–Pacific Region in 2007 and was named Rising Star Chef of the Year in 1995.

Other California chefs working the event were Thomas McNaughton of SF’s Flour + Water, Melissa Perello of SF’s Frances, Nicole Plue of Sideshow in Healdsburg, California, and Michael Mina of the eponymous restaurants in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Jeanne Lawrence with Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Cecilia Chiang.

Chiang’s granddaughter, Siena Chiang, with Cecilia Chiang and her son Philip Chiang.

Food & Wine magazine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin with David Chang and his fiancée, Gloria Lee.

VIP guests enjoyed dinner on the balcony overlooking the atrium in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.