By Devin Beliveau Staff Columnist
WELLS —
A local restaurant has just received national recognition. East, a restaurant featuring Chinese, Japanese and Thai cuisine, has recently been honored as one of the top 10 Chinese restaurants in the entire nation by Chinese Restaurant News (CRN), a trade publication in San Francisco, Calif. with a circulation of 43,000 throughout the country.
Owner Ri Teng Li was notified in December that East had been awarded Top 100 status by CRN’s annual competition, and was invited to a ceremony in Las Vegas, Nev. to witness the unveiling of his restaurant’s official number ranking.
Before leaving for Las Vegas in early January, Li was notified that East was voted into the Top 10 in the “overall quality” category. At the CRN ceremony, he discovered East was voted no. 1 overall in the “décor & atmosphere” category.
“It was really exciting,” said Li. “Everybody’s working hard here, the manager, all the employees. I think this award really belongs to everybody at the restaurant.”
These two achievements are especially impressive considering the thousands of Chinese restaurants in competition from the big cities of New York, San Francisco, and everywhere in between. He is especially proud about taking home the no. 1 prize in “décor & atmosphere.”
“Everything here, the materials, the colors, the lighting has been done so beautifully and professionally. To be number one in the country is a true honor, ” Li reflected.
This is the first time a Maine Chinese restaurant has been honored as a Top-10 restaurant by CRN.
Li received official congratulations at the Las Vegas ceremony from Master Chef Martin Yan (host of the popular cooking show on TV, Yan Can Cook) and from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. Li and Yan then together graced the cover of a recent edition of CRN.
Li believes news of the award is already helping his business.
“People are now coming all the way from Portland and New Hampshire. Business is better than expected,” remarked Li.
Restaurant manager Johnny Zhao agrees.
“Last weekend for Saturday dinner we had a full house. We even had a long waiting list,” Zhao commented.
CRN determines its rankings by sending undercover diners to competing restaurants who then rank the restaurants on numerous checkpoints in several categories. East is located at 636 Post Rd (US Rte. 1) in Wells. For more information, visit www.eastdining.com
Photo caption: Left to right: Owner Ri Teng Li, Master Chef Martin Yan, and Li’s wife We Li at the ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Courtesy photo)
