Irene Li

{{Short description|Boston based chef and restaurateur}}

Irene Shiang Li is a Boston-based chef and restaurateur and a winner of a 2022 James Beard Leadership Award. The youngest person to win the award (32), Li is also a six time finalist in the Rising Star Chef category.{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Jack |title=Boston chef and restaurant owner Irene Li wins James Beard Award for leadership |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/03/17/irene-li-mei-mei-james-beard-award-boston |access-date=17 April 2023 |publisher=WBUR News |date=March 17, 2022}}

A self taught chef, Li founded Mei Mei as a food truck, Mei Mei Street Kitchen, with brother Andrew and sister Margaret in 2012.{{cite web |title=Irene Shiang Li |url=https://www.ireneshiangli.com/ |website=Irene Shiang Li |access-date=17 April 2023}} Mei Mei means little sister in Mandarin. They opened Mei Mei Restaurant a year later in 2013,{{cite web |title=IRENE LI Co-founder of Mei Mei and Prepshift |url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2022-leadership-award-winner-irene-li# |website=James Beard Foundation |access-date=17 April 2023}} and Mei Mei now operates as a dumpling company, teaching virtual classes and selling packaged dumplings at farmers markets with their headquarters in South Boston.{{cite news |title=Chef Irene Li of Boston-based Mei Mei shifted the business to dumpling making amid the pandemic; 10 years after founding it with her siblings, Li sees growth and recognition |url=https://www.masslive.com/food/2022/04/chef-irene-li-of-boston-based-mei-mei-shifted-the-business-to-dumpling-making-amid-the-pandemic-10-years-after-founding-it-with-her-siblings-li-sees-growth-and-recognition.html |access-date=17 April 2023 |publisher=MassLive |date=April 28, 2022}} During COVID-19, Li co-founded [http://projectrestoreus.org Project Restore Us] with Marena Lin, Lily Huang and Tracy Chang, which is a nonprofit that sought to use the restaurant supply chain to help feed immigrant and working-class families.

In 2022, Irene co-founded [http://prepshift.co Prepshift], a coaching, consulting, and workforce training business with Dylan Gully and Carla Cornejo. Originally created as an online tool to help restaurant owners run their businesses, Prepshift is also a technical assistance partner to the City of Boston, City of Cambridge, and other entities.{{Cite web |title=prepshift |url=https://www.prepshift.co/ |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=prepshift |language=en-US}}

Irene Li is the daughter of medical scientist Frederick Pei Li and granddaughter of Li Hanhun, a military general, and Wu Chu-Fang, a restaurateur.{{Cite news |last=Goodyear |first=Dana |date=2023-07-31 |title=The Sisters Behind the Fridge-Cleanout Dinner |language=en-US |work=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/07/the-sisters-behind-the-fridge-cleanout-dinner |access-date=2023-11-19 |issn=0028-792X}} Along with her sister Margaret, she is the co-author of Perfectly Good Food from W.W. Norton.