July 29, 2008 1:34 PM
Barbecue Meets Beijing
They never ask about the A&M helmet on the wall. They never talk about the University of Texas national championship banner, or the horns hanging up near the bar. They never mention the photo of Tom Landry, or the light-up Texaco sign above the stairs.No, there's only one thing any Beijinger ever asks when they walk into Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q in downtown Beijing.
"George Bush and cowboys, that's how they pair it," said Tim Hilbert, a Seguin, Texas, native and the owner of the self-named restaurant, which opened about 18 months ago.
Still, Hilbert said that he doesn't mind associating himself with that state of such mythical proportions, at least to the Chinese. It's certainly a strange time to be an American abroad, and even a stranger one to be from the current President's home state and operating a restaurant that's a tribute to that state, but Hilbert's said he's not afraid to hide his roots.
Take the wait staff at Tim's. John -- pictured above -- wears a Texas state flag shirt, an oversized belt buckle and cowboy boots each day at work. Other employees greet customers with a Mandarin-tinged "Howdy." They've even been taught to engage the customers in conversation and to provide frequent drink refills - both rarities in Beijing.
For the many Chinese customers, Hilbert -- pictured at left -- thinks of his restaurant as an ambassador, an informal introduction to Texas and the West. He wants to make sure that he's leaving a positive impression, no matter what barbecue first-timers might have heard about Texas before.Setting up an authentic place wasn't easy. Two years ago, Hilbert was all set to return to Texas. He'd been working as an executive at a global IT firm for a dozen years in Australia, China and Singapore. He'd enjoyed his three years in Beijing, but he wanted to return home to be closer to his three daughters and his friends.
Some 48 hours before his flight, Hilbert had a change of heart. He wasn't ready to leave Asia just yet, and he also didn't want to continue in the corporate world. He made a quick decision: he'd open a restaurant.
"Foods are the things I really miss about home," he said. He craved two in particular: barbecue and Tex-Mex.
But getting everything set up in a foreign country took some time. He decided to open a barbecue restaurant, but he didn't have any background in opening restaurants or cooking barbecue. So he took to the Internet and put an ad on Craigslist, hoping to find an American chef who was looking for some adventure. Tim Teal, a chef from Austin, Texas, caught his eye, and Hilbert had him fly out to Beijing. Together, they started using local ingredients to make barbecue rubs and sauces. They tested several Chinese woods for the giant barbecue oven that Hilbert had air mailed out to Beijing (apple and date wood, which are commonly used to make Beijing's famous Peking duck, were their favorites). They even went to work with their semi-English-speaking chefs, teaching them the secrets of good Texas barbecue.
But Hilbert still had one major problem: finding the right meat. The Chinese wouldn't allow him to ship in American beef, and he wasn't able to get Australian meat imported. So Hilbert and Teal located a Chinese supplier in the nearby province of Hebei.
Getting the perfect cut of meat was another matter. By his own admission, Hilbert only speaks "taxicab Mandarin," which meant that translators -- who'd neither eaten nor seen barbecue before -- had to come along to the factory.
That only caused more trouble. When Hilbert asked to see the supplier's cut of brisket and ribs, "they looked at me like I was from Mars." Apparently, some meats don't translate easily into Chinese.
Three trips to the factory later, the supplier still hadn't gotten the cut of brisket right. So Hilbert turned to a second company -- this one based in Inner Mongolia -- for his beef. They too couldn't get the meat right on their first two tries, so Hilbert requested that the company actually bring part of a cow to his restaurant. There, Teal sliced up the brisket to show them what they wanted.
When the supplier in Hebei came calling a week later, Hilbert told them that he'd already found another company for his meats. But behind his back, Hilbert's Chinese staffers handed the Hebei company an entire cut of the brisket to copy for the Americans. Finally, the supplier was able to slice the brisket correctly, and to this day, Hilbert still uses Hebei cows for all of his meats.
The food at Tim's is -- at least in your correspondent's humble opinion -- pretty impressive. (Full disclosure for the BBQ lovers out there: I'm partial to Kansas City barbecue, especially Arthur Bryant's.) I'm not barbecue savvy enough to fully analyze the effects of the date wood instead of hickory on the meat, but I do know that the brisket was easy to slice through (of note: Tim's is one of the few restaurants in town that has Western utensils; I can't imagine taking chopsticks to brisket). I didn't leave anything but bone on the pork ribs. The sauce tasted just as good as it does in the Midwest. All of those are good signs.One thing on the menu which I didn't try: Tim's offers a chopped beef sandwich that's steamed inside of a dumpling. The Chinese word for it is baozi, and Hilbert's willing to bet that it's the only one like it in the city. He said that he's been reluctant to fully incorporate other Chinese items into his barbecue, though. He's fond of the local food, particularly the duck, and he said that he does not want to offend residents by tossing their famous bird into his smoker and then topping it with barbecue sauce.
Hilbert said that he's very pleased with business so far. He also owns another restaurant in town, called Tim's Texas Roadhouse, which serves Tex-Mex. He's expecting both places to be packed during these Olympics Games.
He's also thrilled to be catering a major event on Aug. 8, the day of the Opening Ceremonies. That day, the new U.S. Embassy will open in town, and they've requested Tim's barbecue at the ribbon cutting. No, he admits, it probably doesn't hurt that President Bush, in town for the Games, will be attending the grand opening.
What might a real Texas cowboy - well, at least if you ask the Chinese - think of a Beijing barbecue joint? Hilbert's just hoping for a Presidential thumbs up.
"It should be one for the scrapbook," he said.
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Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q
14 Dongdaqiao Lu (Silk Street No. 2), Chaoyang District, Beijing
æœ?阳区东大桥路14å?·è´µå?‹å¤§åŽ¦æ£åŒ—200ç±³
+86 010 6591 9161
August 23, 2008
2:17 PM
tlewis writes:
Great idea, how is it that you can own a business in China? is it fully owned by Tim or a partnership with the government?
August 23, 2008
7:14 PM
Dan Oshinsky writes:
Owning your own business in China a remarkably complicated process. As for Tim's, the short version is, yes, Hilbert owns the restaurant.
May 9, 2009
3:35 PM
Lou Rosgen writes:
I have planned a similar business Western China for several years but never got too serious.Have BBQ'd for many years and have worked in the food business, but never ran my own business I spent several years in China and am married to a Chinese woman. I would want to start out on a smaller scale maybe 50 seats at the most. Any advice will be greatly appreciated
May 14, 2009
12:00 PM
david teal writes:
how do i find tim teal,s location in china now