Annie Shi opened Lei in June. Ms. Shi hopes that guests will think Lei as part of a longer visit to Chinatown. You can see the traces of a Chinese American childhood: mahogany walls with this red blush, and red is for luck. For the food, Ms. Shi had a vision of Chinese homestyle cooking. You might start with celtuce, a traditional ingredient here presented raw.

Source: New York Times January 17, 2026 06:18 UTC