I'm sitting at Cafe Ena restaurant with Chef Hector Raul Ruiz enjoying a heart warming dish of enchiladas with his mother's recipe of mole negro. Besides indulging myself in this rich and balanced dish of a sauce that packs a punch of flavor and yet has a mellow texture, I am also meeting with Hector to get to know him as a chef and as a restaurant entrepreneur in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I cannot help but notice that the contrast of heavy flavor and a mellow texture of his dish translates into Hector's language about his own restaurants and the food that he provides from the local community.

Hector, originally from Mexico, trained as a chef in Minneapolis under several Italian chefs and then later to the culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu. He then lived in Paris, France for 2 years where he worked under the Master Chef Alain Senderens. With the fortune of of his journey growing up in Morelos, Mexico, to living in the tundra that is the Midwest, and then to be classically trained in France motivated Hector to travel other parts of the world throughout South America and the Spanish Caribbean. These influences have resulted in several vibrant restaurants.

I hope this blog serves to tell the story of Hector to those who have enjoyed his restaurants and food, and who are curios to know who he is as a father, chef and local member of the South Minneapolis Community. I asked him how does it feel to own restaurants to attract so many palates from persons who come from all parts of the country and world to choose to return to your restaurant several times a year. He simply said, "It's not that I don't care whether or not I have an international or local crowd coming, I just care that they leave happy eating with friends and family".

In a time where local restaurants and businesses fight every year to keep running business, Hector has worked extremely hard to maintain his culinary legacy in a community that he holds dear to his heart as he has raised his children there as well. Please stay tuned for more posts to get to know Chef Hector, learn some recipes, and most of all to see the behind the scenes to the plates you may have or will enjoy at any of his restaurants.