Anita Lo

Anita Lo is an American chef and restaurateur. In 2001, she was named by Food & Wine magazine one of ten “Best New Chefs in America”.

Lo, a second-generation Malaysian American, grew up in Birmingham, Michigan.

She graduated from Concord Academy and then from Columbia University, where she earned a degree in French literature. While a student at Columbia, Lo spent time at its French language institute in Paris. It was there that she developed a love for French cuisine. A year after graduating from college she moved back to Paris to enroll at the culinary school L’Ecole Ritz-Escoffier. While a student there, she interned with top French chefs Guy Savoy and Michel Rostang.

After completing culinary school in Paris, Lo returned to New York where she worked at several restaurants including Chanterelle, Can, a French-Vietnamese restaurant, and Maxim's. She then moved to Mirezi restaurant, where she earned headlines and rave reviews from restaurant critics, including Ruth Reichl from the New York Times.

In 2000, Lo and her business partner Jennifer Scism opened Annisa, in New York's Greenwich Village. Annisa received a two-star review from the New York Times, Lo was named to Food & Wine magazine's list of the ten “Best New Chefs in America”, and The Village Voice named her the “Best New Restaurant Chef.” On July 4, 2009, Annisa was destroyed by fire. The restaurant reopened in April 2010 at the same location. The reopened restaurant was reviewed again by The New York Times and again received two stars. Scism also left Annisa in June 2010, leaving Lo as the sole owner. In 2011, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation recognized the restaurant's excellence with a Village Award. Annisa received three stars from the New York Times in 2014.

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