Mexico is a popular renowned country, not only for its unique culture, but for its well-liked cuisine. When traveling to major cities around the world it comes as no surprise to run across a Mexican restaurant. Undoubtedly, the flavors of their cuisine can satisfy any palate, and luckily in China's capital, Beijing, people can enjoy authentic Mexican food at one of the few restaurants in the country that honors Mexican culture by offering their unique, exotic, and intricate cuisine. Here is the story of Chef Ray, owner and founder of Pebbles restaurant, someone who didn’t give up on his passion for bringing the true flavors and culture of Mexico to the Chinese people despite the difficulties of finding the right ingredients. The path has not been an easy one, but the reward of being the only restaurant in Beijing to serve the closest to the original flavors of Mexican dishes is what keeps him going.
Ray Yue Hung, a Beijing native and owner of Pebbles restaurant, initiated his career in the food industry some years after graduating from university. Ray studied in Australia during his high school years but returned to China for his university studies and graduated as a graphic designer in 2007. However, he began his working career in the automotive industry, a job that required lots of travel around the country. He left this job a couple of years later when he married Pepper Yanlin Li, his number one supporter.
It all began in 2009 when Ray and his wife quit their regular jobs and decided to venture on their own by opening a coffee shop. The shop had a simple menu with easy quick meals. They hired a chef for their coffee shop and began their adventure in the restaurant business. Ray acknowledged that maintaining an eatery was not a simple task and that he and his wife had no experience whatsoever on how to run a restaurant. But they kept on going. The idea of turning his coffee shop into a restaurant with a more complete menu, one that included mostly Mexican dishes, happened when a friend of Ray shared a quesadilla recipe to add to his menu choices. Quesadillas were well received and became the most popular item at his restaurant. Up to this day, Ray has kept this same quesadilla recipe he serves at Pebbles restaurant. After seeing this, Ray thought of creating a menu with more choices of Mexican food, but his chef, having no experience with this type of meal, was not interested at all. Ray was left to do this task on his own and began to research Mexican dishes that he later added to his menu. Having no chef for his restaurant, Ray took the challenge of trading his regular clothes with that of a chef's, and for the very first time in his life he began cooking for his restaurant. These were the beginnings of Pebbles as a future authentic Mexican restaurant
The new path Ray took was not going to be an easy one. There were so many ups and downs, disappointments and losses, but none of this made Ray give up on his newfound passion. He began to better himself and learn more about Mexican food. Ray remembers that the first meals he cooked were not the most professional-looking meals in his opinion but he kept trying and improved his cooking skills over time.
Ray’s main motivation to bring authentic Mexican cuisine comes after hearing an interesting comment from a client at his restaurant, saying that his food was not Mexican food but Tex-Mex. This made Ray wonder what the person meant. He had never heard about Tex-Mex meals so he went on to find out what the difference was. By 2011, Pebbles restaurant was struggling but despite the difficulties, they managed to save some money for Ray to travel to Mexico for 11 days to see for himself and taste the flavors of the Mexican food. During this trip, he took some cooking classes as well.
His travel experience to Mexico made Ray fall in love with the culture and the fascinating history behind the traditional and regional cuisine of Mexico. He promised himself to make his restaurant authentic and share this interesting Latin American culture with the people in China. Little by little, he adjusted his menu to offer dishes from several regions of Mexico; from the popular Tacos al Pastor (first introduced in the state of Puebla), to the Yucatán classic Cochinita Pibil (pork braised with citrus achiote marinade); the popular Carne Asada (wood fire-grilled beef), to the most authentic regional Tlayudas from the state of Oaxaca. Ray dedicated himself to serve and be as loyal as possible to real Mexican food. But Ray being a self-made chef up to this point needed proper training, so his next big step was to join culinary school.
In 2016, the decision was made and Ray was en route to Chicago to do culinary school for a year. He flew to the United States and attended culinary school under the mentorship of Chef Rick Bayless, a renowned American chef with an extensive trajectory in the restaurant and food industry who specializes in true authentic Mexican regional and contemporary cuisine. Ray feels happy and proud to have had the best mentor anyone could wish for. The inspiration and passion to maintain and deliver the best service at his restaurant, to remain true to their mission, and bring the real culture and history that involves the authentic flavors of Mexico are in part influenced by the guidance of Chef Rick Bayless. However, the challenges were and are still there as it’s not that easy to find all of the ingredients here in China. Before the pandemic, Ray had a big staff who dedicated themselves to making more than 30 types of salsas, sauces, dressings and marinades all from scratch. They also made the traditional Mexican cheeses like requesón (Hispanic ricotta cheese), queso fresco (fresh cheese) handmade corn tortillas, etc. Although they are still limited with cooking staff, Ray makes it a priority to maintain the food authenticity at his restaurant. As Ray says, “I will keep promoting Mexican culture and be a role model for the newcomers who wish to do the same, just like my mentor motivated me to do!”
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