What sets apart the best ones from the rest? Creativity and hard work, yes, but also dealing with the challenges of baking pastries in a tropical country and still executing them perfectly
What sets a great meal apart from the rest? Like most of life’s pleasures, it is all about the build-up. Have you ever sat down to dine and had some of the most delicious food you have ever eaten, only to be served a dessert that is more of an afterthought? The decadent treat at the end of a meal is meant to be the cherry on top of the proverbial cake, as they say, and accomplishing this feat takes a lot more than most people know.
The best restaurants always have highly accomplished pastry chefs to ensure that meals are capped off with memorable desserts. As pastry chef and writer Roland Mesnier once said: “Dessert is an opportunity to make something beautiful and delicious.” For this collective of Filipino talents, this seems to be a challenge they have truly taken to heart.
See also: Meet The Sous Chefs From 5 Of Metro Manila's Best Restaurants
Rhea Sycip, Flour Pot Manila and The Fatted Calf
Known for her ethereal naked cakes and innovative bespoke creations, Sycip’s solid Manila following despite being based in Silang, Cavite speaks for the quality of her confections. You would have never guessed that she has always worked professionally in a hot kitchen (La Regalade) and did not put on her pastry chef hat until she retired from hotelier life (as F&B director of Discovery Primea) and started her baking business (Flour Pot Manila) while also being in charge of desserts at The Fatted Calf, her farmhouse restaurant in Silang with husband, chef Jayjay Sycip.
What made you decide to become a pastry chef?
I grew up watching Food Network dreaming of making cakes in a dainty, pastel kitchen when I was younger. I love the creative process that goes with it and appreciate the science behind the formulas and measurements. I’ve traded my whites for coats for a while and would like to believe that I was good at my job. I launched programs that disrupted the food and beverage scene for a while, but I still feel more accomplished making a nice, golden rum cake every Sunday. As cliché as it sounds, I just followed my heart after seventeen years, and now, finally, I am starting to live my dream.
How would you describe your cooking style?
I strive to achieve a well-balanced dessert with the interplay of flavours and textures. The desserts can be fun, yet not too bold, exotic yet elegant, rustic but not shabby. I have high respect for classic and nostalgic confections and make sure that I stay true to its flavours whenever I make an interpretation of it.
There’s always a story for every cake on the shelf, and each cake is a reflection of me. For me, it’s flavour above aesthetics, with no pretensions. At the end of the day, it would be such a joy to see your cakes eaten and enjoyed down to the last bite, eyes closed.