Madeleine Café & Patisserie collaborates with award-winning French pastry chef, Chef Pierrick Boyer.

Photo: Courtesy of Food Journal Sdn Bhd

Opened by lifestyle hospitality brand Food Journal, Madeleine Café & Patisserie in Kuching, Sarawak, has collaborated with award-winning French pastry chef Pierrick Boyer to bolster its presence as a purveyor of fine pastries.

Having extensive experience in Melbourne, Australia, where he turned Le Petit Gateau  into a household name, he turned his attention to enlivening the budding Sarawakian café with an all new menu. 

Also read: Our one-on-0ne chat with Chef Nathalie Arbefeuille

We speak to Boyer to discuss the key lessons he had learned during his training as a pastry chef, his partnership with Madeleine Café and what it takes to make good bread and pastries.

unnamed-2.jpg (original size)Peanut Crunch | Photo: Courtesy of Food Journal Sdn Bhd

What were some of the most important things that you had to learn becoming a pastry chef?
I had a great mentor who was an all-rounder, from breakfast pastries to small cakes, large cakes, specialty cakes and even breads. He taught me a lot and lead the team by example, which I think is very important.  

What are the key qualities of good bread and pastries?
Well first of all it needs to look nice and appealing, because we firstly feast with our eyes. The right texture, the balance of ingredients and baking methods all play an important role in creating the perfect pastry. Baking is as much a science as it is an art!

Share with us about your collaboration with Food Journal.
Food Journal is an up-and-coming F&B group based in Sarawak. With their maiden F&B concept - Madeleine Cafe & Patisserie, we're working on making it a cafe that customers can trust for delicious cakes and pastries with a beautiful environment, but also as a brand that has long-term sustainability and scalability.  From the moment we spoke until now, they (Food Journal) have been very professional, understanding, and with a great attitude and work ethic. We gel together quite well.

What did it take for you to put together the menu?
I tried all their cakes and fine-tuned them before adding in quite a few of my own recipes. We streamlined the production process to make it easy and efficient for staff. We also try to use as much local produce as possible.