A taste of adventure

"At first, I couldn't understand the French names of the dishes, as many of the ingredients were niche and weren't found in regular markets, but were grown in their garden," Li says. One daily challenge involved preparing sauces for every item on the menu, with ingredients requiring precise cutting and hand-grinding before being turned into sauces.

The intense daily grind did not extinguish her passion. On the contrary, her resilience spurred her to challenge herself even more.

Even when it came to routine tasks as mundane as peeling quail eggs, if it took her 35 minutes to peel 80 eggs one day, the following day she quietly resolved to do better.

The hard work paid off and the experience provided Li with invaluable insights into the intricacies of operating and managing a fine dining establishment, further testing her skills.

She gained a score of 18 out of 20 from her experience at Ducasse, distinguishing herself as one of the top interns at the school and her journey was captured in a documentary by French television channel TF1.

Li also worked at Oka, a one-starred restaurant helmed by Brazilian chef Raphael Rego. This experience gave Li the opportunity to engage with diners.

Over the course of several internship experiences, Li was one of the few women in the kitchen. Despite the demands of the job, her strong will enabled her to excel at each new position, and she demonstrated a rapid ability to master the required skills.

"My experience was to always be diligent in the kitchen," she says.

In 2021, after living in France for six years, Li decided to return to China. Although she had initially planned to extend her stay in France, COVID-19 caused her to reconsider.

After a short break, she found her first job as the dessert chef at Qu Lang Yuan. Li remembers that her first visit to the restaurant had been in 2017, when she went for afternoon tea and was impressed by its environment.

She made desserts for a year, earning the praise of diners and then last year; was made executive chef and given responsibility for the overall running of the restaurant.