The Academy
The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy is the mechanism used to create the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. None of the employees of any of the sponsors associated with the awards, including the main sponsor, votes or has any influence over the results.
The Academy is comprised of 318 members, each selected for their expert opinion of the Asian restaurant scene. To create the Academy, and provide a fair representation of the continent, we divide Asia into six separate voting regions.
Each region has a chairperson appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each select a voting panel of 53 (including themselves) – ensuring a balanced selection of chefs, restaurateurs, food/restaurant journalists and gourmets.
Learn more about the how the voting works
Crystyl Mo
Academy Chair for: China & Korea
Crystyl Mo is a freelance food writer, editor, TV host and consultant who has been charting China’s burgeoning restaurant scene for over a decade. The former food editor of Time Out Shanghai, she has contributed to international publications including Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Condé Nast Traveler, AFAR and CNNGo.
Evelyn Chen
Academy Chair for: South-East Asia (South)
Based in Singapore, Evelyn is the local editor of Zagat and a former Time Out food critic who contributes to numerous premium publications including New York Times, Telegraph Travel, Conde Nast Traveller and CNN Travel, as well as writing her own well-established blog, Bibik Gourmand. She has also appeared in numerous food-related TV programmes including Asian Ace, 3 Chefs 1 City and The Toque 12.
Litti Kewkacha
Academy Chair for: South-East Asia (North)
Based in Bangkok, Litti is a passionate and highly regarded gastronome. Born and raised in Thailand, he has also spent time living in Singapore and the UK. He oversees a range of leisure and hospitality businesses in the fast-casual and fast-food sectors under the Kacha Brothers umbrella, and his family founded and owns the Safari World and Phuket FantaSea theme parks. He travels extensively and has visited almost every restaurant featured on the 50 Best lists, as well as numerous others, sharing his experiences on his popular Instagram account.
Rashmi Uday Singh
Academy Chair for: India, Central Asia & Subcontinent
Award-winning author of 36 books including India’s first ever city-restaurant guide and the world's first vegetarian guide to Paris, Rashmi has studied journalism, literature, law and management. She has also trained with the BBC and worked with the Indian Civil Service. Her weekly columns with The Times of India and TV shows including Channel 4 with Gordon Ramsay continue to be popular.
Susan Jung
Academy Chair for: Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan
Born in Monterey Park, California, Susan Jung moved to Hong Kong and worked as a pastry chef for several restaurants before being offered the job as food and wine editor for the English language paper, the South China Morning Post. As senior food and wine editor, she reviews restaurants and writes weekly columns on cooking, cookbooks, ingredients and the Hong Kong food scene. Her cookbook, A Celebration of Food, was published in 2012.
Takanori Nakamura
Academy Chair for: Japan
Takanori Nakamura is a journalist and television presenter born in Hayama (Japan) in 1964. He writes and commentates on luxury lifestyle covering fashion, culture, gourmet, travel and hotels.
