In May 2024, doctors told Shirley Chung that the best chance of saving her life was removing her tongue. She said no.
Chung had just been diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma — tongue cancer that had already spread to her lymph nodes. She was 47. She had built a career around taste, around the specific memory of her grandmother’s cooking in Beijing, around 20 years of working kitchens alongside Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy, and José Andrés. Two runs on Top Chef, a devoted following in Los Angeles, restaurants she had poured herself into. Losing her tongue was not something she was willing to accept.
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