a fresh batch - sim sut a... · 2015-09-23 · and matcha azuki, a green tea pound cake with...
TRANSCRIPT
Abatch of new bakeries and cakeshops owned by young, gutsybaker-entrepreneurs is heatingup Singapore’s increasinglycrowded bakery and patisserie
scene.SundayLife! spoke to the owners of six
cake shops that have opened in the last 10months.
What they have in common: All are intheir 20s. They range in age from 22 to 27and set up their own shops for between$10,000 and $125,000. Some did so withtheir own savings, while others borrowedmoney from their parents. Neither youthnor inexperience in doing businessdeterred or intimidated them from settingup shop.
They say they are not daunted by big,dominant players on the scene, whichinclude local patisserie chains CanelePatisserie Chocolaterie and Antoinette, andbakeries such as Paul and Maison Kayserfrom France, Paris Baguette from SouthKorea and Tiong Bahru Bakery.
Other new bakery-patisseries hereinclude Sophie Bakery in Telok Ayer Street,which opened two months ago, and will beopening another three more outlets byApril. There will also be a new bakery con-cept, Arnaud Boulangerie, which opens itsfirst store at 100AM later this month. It isowned by Mr M.S. Lim, 50, a former engi-neer who will be bringing in dough forbreads and croissants from Brittany.
Mr Lim intends to open at least threeother stores in the next five years. SophieBakery plans to have another 20 outlets bythe end of the year, while Paris Baguettewill open a total of about 30 outlets here.
Even popular Parisian patisserie Ladureeis setting up shop in Singapore, with itsfirst two outlets opening next month atNgee Ann City.
Singaporean patissier Kristy Choo of thefamed Jin Patisserie in Los Angeles also hasplans to open an offshoot here and is scout-ing for a location.
Still, despite the competition, theseyoung bakers, many of whom hold diplo-mas in pastry and baking, are determinedto get a piece of the pie.
Some attended hospitality schoolShatec, while others enrolled in At-SunriceGlobalChef Academy and Le Cordon Bleu.
Fuelled by their passion, they take apositive approach to business and competi-tion, saying that it is better to have triedand failed, than never to have tried at all.
Ms Chara Lum, 22, of six-month-oldCiel Patisserie, a French-style patisserie inHougang Avenue 1, says it is about “doingyour best”. She adds: “If it fails, there willalways be something else that I can do.”
Ms Ling Jia En, 23, baker-owner of Char-lotte Grace Cakeshop in Toa Payoh Lorong4, which opened last September, adds:“When you are young, people may nottake you seriously, but that doesn’t meanthat you don’t try.
“When you are young and a baker, peo-ple sometimes think that you’re a bakerbecause you can’t do anything else. That isnot true. As long as we like to do it, itshouldn’t matter.”
It helps that most of these bakers havesupportive parents, who back them physi-cally, morally and financially.
For example, Ms Ling’s father, who sellshealth products, helps to deliver her cakes,while the parents of Ms Charlene Chuaand Ms Wu Qiuying of 10-month-oldCakequembouche in Guillemard Roadhave helped with the washing-up andcleaning of the shop.
Other parents have also chipped infinancially, loaning their children start-upcapital to fulfil their dreams.
Ms Lum’s father, Mr Robert Lum, 57, apastor, bought a shop unit in Hougangwith a friend as an investment and rentsthe ground floor to his daughter at about50 per cent of the market rental rate to helpher out during the initial start-up years.The upstairs unit is rented to a church,which uses it as an office.
He says: “My wife and I thought that herlove for baking was a hobby at first, but shehas proven herself.”
On charging her lower rental, he addswith a laugh: “The reduced rate is for onlythree years. I have told her that it willincrease to the market rate after that.”
Most of the bakers have also chosen toopen in areas that have few or no cakeshops, with some opting for the heartlandas they want to make their fine offerings,such as lemon meringue tarts and caramelmadeleines, more accessible to the masses.
Sweet-toothed Singaporeans in theknow have been making their way to thesebakery-patisseries, and bakers say businesshas been picking up steadily.
Six-month-old Nicher in Tiong Bahrusometimes sells out its pound cakes andmuffins by lunchtime.
Diners say it is a case of the more cakeshops, the merrier, because it gives them agreater variety of offerings.
Toa Payoh resident Jan Lim, a teacher inher 50s, says: “It is wonderful to see innova-tive cake shops in the heartland.
“Who would have thought that onewould find a fine French-style chocolatetart right in the heart of Toa Payoh?”
Who: Ms Chloe Lim (above), 23
Where: Bestway Building, 12Prince Edward Road, Annex C,01-02, tel: 9436-1690
Open: 11am to 6.30pm(Mondays to Fridays). Closed onweekends. Pick-up for pre-ordersis available on Saturdays from11am to 2pm.
Price: From $2 for a plaincupcake without frosting, $2.70with frosting. Two cupcakes for$2.50, or six for $16. $40 for a1.8kg cake (pre-orders only).
Info: Go towww.nouveausg.wix.com/nouveau or [email protected] should be made at leastthree days in advance.
Ms Chloe Lim hasbeen saving up toopen a cake shopsince she was 14.
In the last 10years, the graduatefrom hospitalityschool Shatec, whohas a diploma inpastry and baking,has saved about$40,000.
This includes part of theallowance from her parents overthe years, income from ablogshop and from workingpart-time jobs in retail sales andcustomer service, and a full-timeadministrative job.
As a teenager, she did notwatch as many movies with herfriends as she had wanted to, anddid not join them for moreexpensive meals such as buffets.
Being frugal has paid off: sheis now a proud business owner.
She spent about half hersavings to open NouveauPatisserie in Prince Edward Roadtwo months ago. The shop, astall in the canteen of BestwayBuilding, is now fitted with twoovens and a fridge.
The patisserie offers cupcakesin 10 flavours, ranging from redvelvet to Horlicks, and chocolateand fruit tarts. Other treats, suchas chocolate fudge andblackforest cakes, and macarons,are made to order.
She says: “I have faith in mycupcakes. I use only natural
ingredients and I bake themfresh, every morning.”
She makes the sesame pastefor her sesame cupcakes fromscratch and also fries the peanutsherself. The nuts are thenblended into peanut butter forher frosting.
She had considered openingin a mall, but did not have thecapital to do so. She found aspace for rent at BestwayBuilding on a commercialproperty website. The rentalsuited her budget and its locationin the Central Business Districtwould draw office workers.
The thought of becoming aprofessional baker first enteredher mind when she was 13 yearsold. It was Chinese New Year,
and it was the firsttime she had doneany baking, helpingher mother andaunt makepineapple tarts. Itgave her so muchjoy and pleasurethat she knew shewould one day wantto open her owncake shop.
Her parents thought she was“day dreaming”, she says, butshe was determined to proveherself and started saving for herdream soon after.
She had wanted to attendShatec after finishing her Olevels, but her civil servantmother and construction clerkfather encouraged her to furtherher studies. Their older son, 26,is an engineer, while theiryounger son, who is 18, is still inschool. Ms Lim lives with herfamily in a flat in Bukit Batok.
She went on to obtain adiploma in business studies,majoring in service management,from Ngee Ann Polytechnic,before starting her two-yeardiploma at Shatec in 2010. Whileon attachment, she worked in afive-star hotel, in a chocolatefactory and a patisserie.
Business at her shop has beenpicking up, she says, and she hasalready built up a pool of regularcustomers.
She says: “It was tough to saveup and make those sacrifices, butit was worth it.”
Who: Lewis Lee(right), 23, and MelvinKoh (far right), 27
Where: A stall in acoffee shop at Block 71Seng Poh Road,opposite the entranceto Tiong BahruMarket’s multi-storycarpark, tel: 9645-5604
Open: 8am to 3pm, oruntil sold out,(Tuesdays to Sundays).Closed on Mondays.
Price: Muffins at$1.50 each. A 500gpound cake rangesfrom $12 to $16, whilehalf loaves start at $6.
Info: Go towww.facebook.com/nicher.at.home ore-mail [email protected]
For baker Melvin Koh, the freedom to offer hisown recipes and creations was one of the biggestreasons he opened his own cake shop.
That is exactly what he does at six-month-oldNicher, which is located in a corner coffee shopin Tiong Bahru. The stall features banana walnutmuffins and pound cakes such as Earl Grey Berryand Matcha Azuki, a green tea pound cake withJapanese red beans. He runs the shop with hisfuture brother-in-law Lewis Lee. Mr Lee, whoattends university classes at night, helps with thesales while Mr Koh bakes.
Cakes are made on-site and, if pre-ordered, aretimed to be cooled and ready just before thearranged pick-up time.
Mr Koh, who graduated with a diploma inpastry and baking arts from At-SunriceGlobalChef Academy in 2009, was part of theopening pastry team at Marina Bay Sands. Hespent a year there before moving on to a rockcandy shop and then a pie shop.
He says: “I like to eat and have always beeninterested in F&B.” He has worked in the service
line in restaurants and at hotel banquets, butnever in the kitchen. Keen to learn how thedishes and pastries he served were made, thebusiness informatics diploma holder thendecided to enrol in a culinary school afternational service. His interest in the culinary sideof F&B increased as he progressed in his diploma.
Last year, he decided to set up a small shopwith $10,000, as a cafe would have been a muchbigger investment and higher risk. He says: “Atthe start, I feared that things might not workout, so that is why I decided to start small, withsomething safe.”
The stall recouped its initial investmentwithin two months and the business has provedprofitable, says Mr Koh, whose father is retired.His mother is a nurse.
He had planned to run the stall for a yearbefore opening a cafe, but is now thinking twice,given the competition out there and is toyingwith the idea of a central kitchen instead.
He adds: “We want to make sure our cakes areas fresh as possible. The concept may not workas well if we move to a mall.”
ST PHOTOS: NEO XIAO BIN
Ms Chloe Lim, 23, of Nouveau Patisserie has been saving up since she was 14 to set up the cake shop.
Who: Ms Karylan Lee (above), 22
Where: Block 203 Toa Payoh North,01-1113, tel: 6526-9328
Open: 11.55am to 8.55pm (Mondays toFridays). Closed on weekends.
Price: Cupcakes at $3.50 each, tarts at$2.80 each, and whole chiffon cakes at$10 each. Customised cakes start from $90for a 15cm cake.
Info: Go to www.fiveonedegrees.com ore-mail [email protected] should be made 14 working days inadvance.
One cake that often sells out at 51 fiveonedegrees in Toa Payoh North is the lightand fluffy orange chiffon cake, made withorange juice, plenty of orange zest andchunks of candied orange peel.
The shop, which also sells cupcakes in15 flavours, lemon meringue tarts andcustomised fondant cakes, opened inSeptember last year.
All the cakes and tarts are made by itsbaker-owner, Karylan Lee,who has adiploma in pastry and baking fromhospitality school Shatec. The accounts arehandled by her older sister, Cherylan, 26,who is an accountant.
As a child, the younger Ms Lee hadwatched her mother, a housewife, bakecakes at home and was familiar with stepssuch as creaming and folding. She startedbaking on her own in her late teens.
In fact, it was her father, who runs atrading company, who encouraged her toopen a shop and become an entrepreneur.He funded the setting up of the shop,which cost a five-figure sum. Ms Leeintends to pay him back. Her mother, anavid baker, also helps her in the shopkitchen.
The family found a vacant shop in ToaPayoh North and jumped at theopportunity. They were familiar with thearea because Ms Lee’s paternalgrandparents live there.
The ITE graduate in multimediatechnology decided to go to culinaryschool because she did not think shecould do a job in the multimedia sector,which she says would have includedanimation, video editing and the use ofprogrammes such as Adobe Photoshop.She had gone into multimedia at the timebecause it seemed like a good career pathwith prospects.
But she realised she had more of aninterest in baking and thought she would
give it a tryinstead. It turnedout she is prettygood at it.
She says: “Wewere afraid that noone would knowabout us when we firstopened, but we liked the areaand it was convenient. I wanted tomake items such as lemon meringue tartsavailable in the heartland.”
But those initial fears are gone. Businesshas been picking up, with residents as wellas those who do not live in the areafrequenting her shop.
Who: Ms Ling Jia En(right), 23
Where: Block 85C ToaPayoh Lorong 4, 01-376,tel: 9768-9827
Open: 10am to 9pm(Mondays to Saturdays).Closed on Sundays.
Price: From $2.50 for acupcake. Customised cakesstart from $50 for 500g.
Info: Go to www.charlotte-grace.com. Order two weeksin advance for customisedcakes. Simple cakes can beordered two to three days inadvance.
Ms Ling Jia En has a softspot for cakes, breads andbiscuits. The baker andowner of Charlotte GraceCakeshop, which opened inToa Payoh last July, says shealways preferred these itemsover savoury ones when shewas growing up.
She says: “I have alwayshad a sweet tooth.”
The self-taught bakerstarted dabbling in bakingduring her school days atNgee Ann Polytechnic,where she was studying fora diploma in businessstudies.
She recalls how shewould often tell her friendsthen that she was “going to be a baker”.
The youngest of four children – herolder siblings are civil servants and areaged between 28 and 38 – Ms Ling hadwanted to attend culinary school afterfinishing her diploma, but her parents,who sell healthproducts, could notafford it, she says. Shelives with them in aSengkang HDB flat.
Instead, she enrolledin a four-session bakingcourse at cookingschool CreativeCulinaire in TiongBahru four years ago tolearn more about thescience and basics ofbaking. Her father paid for the course,which cost $360 at the time. She hassince paid him back.
She says it took a lot of trial and errorafter that to perfect her own recipes.These days, her cupcakes include redvelvet, chocolate with a gooey centre,
and vanilla, as well as customised tieredcakes decorated with fondant.
Before setting up her bakery, sheworked in jobs such as retail sales andrelief teaching for four years and saved up$10,000 to open her shop.
Her older siblings chipped in another$2,000 to pay for theair-conditioning, but sheplans to pay them back.
She saved where shecould, roping in friends topaint walls, while her fatherdid most of the renovationworks that included layingthe floor panels and puttingin light fixtures.
Ms Ling says: “My parentssaw how determined I was to
make a career out of this and theyencouraged me to look for a shop space.”
Indeed, it was her parents whochanced upon a vacant unit in Toa PayohLorong 4 while out for a meal andthought it would be suitable
She adds: “Baking is the only thing Iam good at – it is God’s gift to me.”
Who: Ms Chara Lum (right), 22
Where: Block 124 Hougang Avenue 1,01-1444, tel: 6383-0803
Open: 11am to 8pm (Tuesdays toThursdays), 11am to 9pm (Fridays andSaturdays), 3 to 9pm (Sundays), closedon Mondays.
Price: Individual cake servings are pricedbetween $3 and $5.80 each, tarts startfrom $4.20 and a slice of quiche startsfrom $3.20. Whole large tarts and cakesrange from $22 to $47 each.
Info: Go to www.ciel.com.sg, or [email protected] or [email protected] should be made at least three daysin advance.
A shop under an Hougang HDB blockseems an unlikely location for aFrench-style patisserie, but six-month-oldCiel Patisserie has plenty of regulars,many of whom are nearby residents.
The idea, says baker and owner CharaLum, is to make French cakes moreaccessible to Singaporeans in theheartland, both in terms of price andlocation. Unlike the cake shops in townwhere items can retail for $8 or $9, herssell on average for about $4 each.
Ms Lum is a majority shareholder ofthe business, whose other partnersinclude her cousin and god-brother. Sheborrowed $50,000 from her parents toopen the shop. Her father is a pastor andher mother works in financial services.
The Anglo-Chinese Junior Collegealumnus attended culinary school LeCordon Bleu in Bangkok and Paris in2010, after a gap year spent in Perth in atheological college.
She had expressed interest inattending pastry school straight afterjunior college, but her parents thought itwas “just a hobby”. Instead, theyencouraged her to apply for university.Their older daughter, 26, is a doctor,while their younger daughter, 17, is stillin school.
But it was in Perth that her parentsrealised how deeply passionate she wasabout baking. She would bake cakes,breads and make pizza dough.
An avid fan of cookingshows hosted by
Jamie Oliver andNigella Lawson,she startedbaking at the ageof 14, mostlybecause shewanted to eatdessert. Shewould try her
hand at everything from shortbreadcookies to pound cakes.
After obtaining her diploma in pastry,she worked at fine foods companyFauchon in Paris for two months beforereturning to Singapore.
She set up a small cake stall in a coffeeshop in Middle Road in 2011 with$15,000 from her parents. She hasalready paid them back. The coffee shophad to close in February last year to makeway for redevelopment.
Ms Lum says her parents stress theimportance of a degree to fall back onshould the pastry career path not workout. She also knows that marketing andaccounting skills would come in handywhen running her business and is now inher second year of a bachelor of businessdegree at the University of Londonoffered at SIM University.
When she first started university, sheran the stall in the day and attendedclasses at night, which is still the casetoday. She plans to graduate in two years.
Well aware of the competition fromother cake shops and patisseries, she says:“If it doesn’t work out, at least I wouldhave tried, knowing that I have done mybest. You can always try.”
PHOTOS:DIOS VINCOY
JR FOR THESUNDAY
TIMES
Who: Charlene Chua (left) and WuQiuying (right), both 24
Where: Grandlink Square, 511Guillemard Road, 01-05, tel: 8598-1072
Open: 11am to 7pm (Tuesdays toSundays). Closed on Mondays. All cakesmust be pre-ordered.
Price: Customised cakes start at $90 fora kg. Cakes such as tiramisu, Sacher torteand mango cheesecake start at $39 a kg.
Info: Go towww.cakequembouche.comor e-mail [email protected] for customisedfondant cakes and cupcakesmust be made one week inadvance. Orders for classiccakes and cupcakes can bemade three to four days inadvance.
When friends and businesspartners Charlene Chua andWu Qiuying met in culinaryschool, they clickedinstantly.
They have similarpersonalities, work welltogether on projects andboth have a strong interestin fondant cakes, says Ms Wu.
After graduating with diplomas inpastry and baking arts from At-SunriceGlobalChef Academy in February lastyear, they went their separate ways, butthe thought of running their ownbusinesses remained etched on theirminds. In March last year, they decidedto team up to open a cake shop,specialising in what they love most –
customised 3-D fondant cakes.They opened their shop,
Cakequembouche (say cake-com-boosh),in May last year, at the cost of about$15,000. This comprised their savingsand money borrowed from parents.
They made back their initial outlayafter four months and plan to pay theirparents the money they owe this May.
Ms Chua, who has a bachelor’s degreein business marketing fromNanyang TechnologicalUniversity, was put off bythe stories she had heardabout the corporate world.So she decided to followher passion for bakinginstead.
For Ms Wu, an IT servicemanagement diplomaholder, baking wassomething she had gaineda steady interest in sinceher secondary school days.She studied homeeconomics as one of herO-level subjects.
She worked in the ITdepartment of a bank forabout two years aftergraduating from RepublicPolytechnic, but realised
that a routine desk-bound job was notfor her. She went to culinary schoolbecause owning a cake shop had alwaysbeen a dream, but she knew she lackedthe skills and knowledge.
The duo admit that competition fromother customised cake shops is “stiff”,but are focused on delivering topquality. They say they are encouraged bytheir increasing sales.
PHOTOS: NURIA LING, ST FILE
PHOTOS: DIOS VINCOY JR FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
PHOTOS: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN, CAKEQUEMBOUCHE
51 fiveone degrees
Rebecca Lynne Tan
Charlotte Grace Cakeshop Ciel Patisserie Nouveau Patisserie
Nicher
Cakequembouche
A FRESH BATCH
A new generation of 20something bakers are setting upshop. SundayLife! finds out what drives these youngsters
24 tastethesundaytimes March 17, 2013
25tasteMarch 17, 2013 thesundaytimes