Chef of the year 2010: Max Levy

Merit awards go to Ana Esteves and Zhang Shaogang

Since opening Bei at The Opposite House, culinary whiz Max Levy has fissioned and seemingly split the culinary atom. With a Nipponic prowess that comes from an early start working Japan’s famous Tsukiji fish market as a teenager, to raking salt mines and later working at a slithery eel farm, Levy seems to have a hint of Japonica about him, if not total Asiatica pulsing through his veins.

Levy is worth the salt that he makes for Bei where he creates dishes accented by the foods of Northern China, Korea and Japan. Sit at the counter, where some of the best sushi and sashimi can be had in Beijing, and throw caution to the wind.

As if he’s not busy enough, his latest hobby, Apothecary, just around the corner at Nali Patio, is where he sows his Southern oats.

Levy has cooked for the top tables in New York City at The Tasting Room (now closed), Craft, and, most impressively, as a sushi chef at the popular Sushi Yasuda. The dichotomy can be confusing and could easily have gone wrong when you stop to wonder how a guy from New Orleans ends up with such culinary ambidexterity.

The mystery may never be solved, but we’re thrilled to have roast amberjack with a crunchy egg that oozes its yolk on Saturday at Bei, and then on Sunday feast on what may be the best fried chicken in Beijing at Apothecary, Levy’s latest guise. He also makes some killer pickles and gumbo every day (except Monday) at the latter venue, too.

And like a big kid with a giant kitchen for a playroom, Levy throws his toys in a delicious way. Whether he’s playing with transglutaminase, better known as meat glue, or dehydrating marshmallows so they get just that right edge of crust, we can be guaranteed that his menus will never go stale.

Perhaps the best part of all this is that Levy is so unassuming, and is genuinely interested by what he does.

Not only that, but he does it so well. This is, after all, a guy who introduces himself by saying: ‘Hi, I’m Max and I’m a cook.’ There is little left to be said. Lillian Chou

Merit award: Ana Esteves
Girl power! Managing a perpetually busy – and fully open – kitchen is a challenge that requires a high level of professionalism, energy and skill – traits which Ana Esteves, executive chef at Salt, has in spades.

Esteves won a scholarship to study culinary arts at Johnson & Wales in the US and has been on the rise ever since. While she may not be the only female executive chef in Beijing, she is probably the youngest and brings refreshing vitality to the kitchen at Salt.

Combining influences from her native Venezuela with her previous experiences in Europe, South and North America, Esteves combines Latin flavours with French techniques, resulting in delicious creations found nowhere else in Beijing. Cecilia Bullock

Merit award: Zhang Shaogang
It’s rare to meet a Chinese chef who has the drive and determination to make classic traditional cuisine worthy of palace standards. Zhang Shaogang, the chef at Tiandi, does it with valour and stern dedication.

A meal prepared by Chef Zhang is both an education and an inspiration; a complete joy to those who have a fascination with Chinese classical cuisine.

Zhang has been cooking for over 20 years and his take on Imperial dishes on the menu at Tiandi are interspersed with Cantonese and Sichuan selections to cater to all tastes.

Each dish has specific formalities and procedures that must be precisely followed, and while it’s easy to take short cuts, Zhang’s passionate, if almost angry, speech about following the rigours and assiduousness of Chinese culinary techniques is testament to his dedication to his craft, with a devotion that ranks Zhang up there with the best in the city. Lillian Chou

See all the winners of the Time Out Food Awards 2010.