Irene Li opened Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston in 2013 and has spent the years since driving the industry forward in ethical sourcing and fair and transparent employment practices.
A Boston native and Cornell University graduate, Irene has worked on farms, taught in prisons and watched perhaps hundreds of hours of YouTube videos on food and cooking. Mei Mei has been featured by Food & Wine, Eater Boston & National, The New York Times, People, Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe and more. Irene is an Eater Young Gun, Zagat 30 Under 30 and Forbes 30 Under 30 winner, and a six-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semi-finalist.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, she has pivoted her business to serve hospital workers with hot meals and groceries and to provide low-cost staples and household essentials to other food industry workers. She co-founded Project Restore Us, a COVID-era initiative whose mission is to serve working immigrant families by raising funds and delivering culturally relevant grocery staples, including rice, beans, maseca and produce, straight to their doors in the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic.
Since June, Mei Mei Restaurant has delivered over 80,000 pounds of groceries (about 80,000 meals) to over 600 families.
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