Edible Art

Avant garde pastry chef Janice Wong mixes flavours from around the world to create her culinary art — but it’s her native Singapore that continues to inspire her most

- Audrey Gillan

It was the taste of a strawberry that changed everything for Janice Wong. Picking the fruit straight from the plant and popping it into her mouth, she discovered that it had earthy notes and even a little bitterness.

This revelation came when Janice visited a farm while studying economics and finance on an exchange programme at the University of Melbourne. It would turn her career around and lead her to become one of the most famous pastry chefs in the world.

It inspired her to train at top culinary school Le Cordon Bleu Paris and led to her working alongside celebrated chefs like Will Goldfarb, Oriol Balaguer, Grant Achatz, Arzal and Pierre Hermé. But ultimately it prompted Janice’s return to Singapore, the place where she was born and where she realised she wanted to share some of the flavours she’d recently grown to love.

“That strawberry had so much more than just strawberry flavours,” Janice explains. “In Singapore there’s not much farming because we’re so small, so we have to import a lot. I explored new tastes in Australia, France and other countries, and I couldn’t wait to bring them back to home. Discovery is a big part of my life. I fell in love with new experiences and I wanted to create that for my guests.”

Janice opened her first restaurant, 2am:dessert bar, aged 24. With puddings at its heart, it’s designed to be an indulgent experience. In the decade since, she’s opened shops, restaurants and bars across Southeast Asia, as well as 2am:lab, a non-profit culinary research laboratory and development space.