Chef Pang Kok Keong was formerly the pastry chef of the Les Amis Group’s Canelé, known for introducing innovative macaron flavours to Singapore. He has since ventured out on his own to bring his other dreams to life. His newfound restaurant group, aptly named Sugar Daddy, is boldly opening not one, but three outlets within just a few months’ time. Each restaurant has its own unique concept. Pique Nique is the first of his outlets, focusing only on quintessential American desserts such as red velvet cake, cheesecake and whoopie pie.

He began training for his professional career in 1993 at Shatec, though his affection for life in the kitchen began from a young age. He recalls, “I would work part-time at restaurants, and I grew a passion for it as I learned more. I never thought I’d make it big, I just enjoyed it at the time.” Eventually, he found his particular calling for pastries and went on to work for top hotels and later the Les Amis Group. But Pang is still striving for more. He says, “The reason why I stepped out of the Les Amis Group was to do something even better for myself. I have set higher standards to reach and I’m paying even more attention to every detail of the restaurant than ever before.”


Who was your inspiration or hero in the business?
There are so many people whom I admire, but Chef Francisco Torreblanca is one of the top pastry chefs in the world—I trained with him in Spain. I liked his energy, his passion and his integrity. He has so much pride in all his products. Yet I also appreciate his humanity. It’s an attribute that you don’t come by often.


Why did Sugar Daddy open so many restaurants in one shot? It’s a risky move.
Good location is hard to come by, so when the opportunity arose we didn’t see why not. The reason why I started Sugar Daddy was to do something I’ve always wanted. Why wait?


What’s the toughest part?
The toughest part is finding the right people for the job. Front of house, kitchen, everything. I’d be lying to say it wasn’t overwhelming when I was preparing for all of the restaurant openings.


What are Sugar Daddy’s goals?
I’m just realising a dream. It would be nice to make some money along the way, but it’s really secondary. While I still have the ideas and the energy, I’d like to create all the different concepts that I’ve ever wanted.


What do you think of the pastry scene in Singapore?
You see a lot of independent patisseries opening up, which is very encouraging. I think the appreciation level of the consumer is steadily improving as well. For example, everyone knows a macaron by now. But now everyone thinks a whoopie pie is just a stale macaron! Hopefully in a couple of years everyone will know what a whoopie pie is too.


How many different concepts are you launching?
At the moment we plan for five. French Boulangerie will be a very rustic boulangerie. There’s the French concept Antoinette, American concept Pique Nique, an ice-cream concept, and the last and most challenging one: Chinese.


Why will the Chinese concept be the most challenging?
I was trained in European and French-styled pastries, so Chinese pastries are to a large extent still very alien to me. I was inspired after a course in Guangzhou and grew quite fascinated with the similarities between Chinese and western pastries.


What’s in store for the future?
In the immediate future, it’s basically to build up all the concepts I have in mind and eventually branch out overseas. My ultimate dream would to open up in Paris and Tokyo, because they are the capital of sweets. I don’t know how realistic it is, but it doesn’t cost anything to dream, right?