A taste of adventure

Over time, Li's interest in cooking grew, leading her to enroll in a one-year French cuisine course.

She fondly recalls the comprehensive training that taught her fundamental skills from scratch, and which provided a strong foundation for her culinary journey. "They teach you how to create a full menu including dishes and dessert," she explains.

After the one-year training, Li continued to study culinary arts and management at the Institut Paul Bocuse, where she threw herself into constant learning in class, and practiced her skills by working in different restaurants.

Besides cooking, she also learned how to run a restaurant, including accounting, law and research, as well as how to create a logo for a restaurant and how to design the layout of a kitchen.

Her studies allowed her to accumulate a wealth of internship experience, mostly at Michelin-starred restaurants, and exposed her to a variety of ideas and methods related to running a kitchen and a restaurant.

She began her culinary journey in Lyon under the mentorship of Christophe Roure, who ran a two-star Michelin restaurant renowned for its fusion of Japanese and French cuisine. This experience gave her a profound appreciation for the cooking styles of different cultures.

Later, Li moved to Paris and snagged a spot at Alain Ducasse's then three-starred Michelin restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athenee, which was renowned for its focus on seafood and grains.

To secure the coveted role, Li meticulously prepared for her interview, leaving no detail of the restaurant unexplored.

But receiving the job offer was just the beginning. Working at one of the world's top restaurants demanded the highest level of expertise, and she reminisces about the rigorous demands placed on her. Her days were long, often extending from 8 am to 1 am during which she tirelessly tackled kitchen tasks.