Chinatown hot spot is named Best New Restaurant by James Beard

Lei, a tiny, 28-seat restaurant in Chinatown has defeated finalists across the nation to land the Best New Restaurant title at the annual James Beard Awards.

The intimate, ambient lit establishment at 15-17 Doyers Street was opened in June 2025 by Annie Shi, a New York restaurateur who also serves as co-owner and beverage director of King in SoHo and Jupiter in Rockefeller Center.

Tucked away amongst Chinatown’s narrow, bustling streets, the restaurant next door to Nom Wah Tea Parlor, billed as the oldest dim-sum spot in the city, the newcomer caught on quickly as a dining hot spot famed as much for its homestyle Chinese cuisine as its broad array of wine from a variety of producers, specifically curated to complement the menu items.

New York Times restaurant critic Ligay Mishan in a rave review in January wrote: “Lei is a true wine bar—not a restaurant posing as one to excuse a limited menu, but an exemplar of the form, with wine as its lodestar. Ms. Shi and her wine director, Matt Turner, have put together a cellar that is abundant and thrilling, balancing adventure and esoterica with respect for one’s elders.”

The accolades continued the following month when The New Yorker’s Helen Rosner dubbed it “the new crown jewel of Chinatown.”

Reservations at Lei had already been ranked as one of the hardest to secure in New York City and now after landing the prestigious award on June 15 in a ceremony at Chicago’s Lyric Opera the establishment is expected to continue drawing crowds.

This reporter was fortunate to have an early reservation set for June 16, the day after Lei landed the best new restaurant designation. When we called to see if we could get a reservation moved to a slightly later time, every slot was taken right up until closing.

Prior to entering hospitality full time, owner and founder Anne Shi worked in finance and participated in a restaurant operations course at NYU. She was named the Michelin Guide’s 2025 Northeast Cities Sommelier Award winner. The restaurant takes its name from Shi’s late sister, Hannah Lei Shi, who passed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Lei’s menu was developed in collaboration with chef Patty Lee, a Taiwanese American chef previously of Mission Chinese Food. The menu draws on Shi’s Shanghainese and Dalian family heritage alongside Lee’s Taiwanese American background.

The wine list, curated with wine director Turner, rotates frequently, with about 60 percent of selections changing weekly. The menu has featured dishes such as chilled celtuce, cat’s ear noodles with braised lamb, sweet and sour beef short ribs, and an eight-treasure rice pudding finished tableside with sticky toffee sauce.

This year’s James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony was held Monday, June 15, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, before an audience of roughly 2,000 chefs, restaurant owners, and other industry professionals. Lei was one of three New York City honorees this year in a ceremony before and audience of roughly 2,000 chefs, restaurant owners and other restaurant professionals.

The other city winners included Lee Campbell of Borgo, opened by Andrew Tarlow on East 28th St. in Manhattan, which won Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Hooni Kim of Meju, in Long Island City, whcih landed Best Chef: New York State.

Lei’s web site advises that Doyers Street is a closed pedestrian plaza. “For taxi pick-up or drop-off, please direct your driver to Doyers and Bowery.”

The restaurant web site says it holds some tables for walk-ins, but given its limited seating capacity, it is best to book reservations in advance “We release a limited number of reservations 14 days in advance at 9 a.m.,” its web site proclaims. Reservations can be booked through leiwine.nyc/about and through resy.