After a string of setbacks—including a kitchen fire that burned down her acclaimed restaurant Annisa last year—chef Anita Lo is back on top, winning raves from critics who've checked out Annisa's reboot. Today the big dog weighs in. "The food Ms. Lo is cooking there is as good as any she has made in her career," writes Sam Sifton for the Times. "Ms. Lo is not by any means a flashy chef. She does not stalk the dining room in gleaming whites, glad-handing patrons and accepting praise. She simply stays in the kitchen and works, cooking as the Puget Sound novelist David Guterson writes: precisely, with earth in closest proximity to sea." And Time Out's Jay Cheshes says Annisa, "as sparely appointed as a Japanese rock garden... isn’t any flashier than it used to be, but the food is more exciting than ever." more ›

After an email circulated saying that Barrow Street restaurant Annisa had been "destroyed" by a fire on the morning of July 4, Serious Eats' Ed Levine sent a quick note to Anita Lo, the restaurant's acclaimed chef and owner. It turns out the rumor is true: while no one was present at the time, a fasting moving blaze has in fact destroyed the restaurant. "The fire marshall hasn't come yet, so we don't know what started it," Lo tells Levine. "And yes, we are going to rebuild--hopefully better than before." You may remember that a fire temporarily shut down another restaurant owned by Lo, Bar Q, which has since closed for good. While Annisa does its whole phoenix/flames thing, you can catch Anita Lo compete on this week's Top Chef Masters. Neil Patrick Harris is guest judging. more ›

After undergraduate studies in French Literature at Columbia, Michigan-born chef Anita Lo found herself unable to resist the call of the kitchen, and relocated to France to study at the esteemed Ritz-Escoffier school. Graduating first in her class, Lo soon got her start in New York in the kitchen of David Bouley. Eight years ago she struck out on her own with the Greenwich Village favorite Annisa, which serves contemporary American cuisine with accents from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean. Critical acclaim followed, Crain's named her as one of the top 100 influential women in New York business, and she schooled Mario Batali on Iron Chef. Lo's latest move is the promising West Village restaurant Bar Q, where she's focusing on creative Asian-style barbecue, as well as a raw bar. more ›