RIDING THE WAVE

Despite the economic uncertainty, these new local lifestyle brands were launched during the global pandemic to much success. Crystal Lee and Annabel Tan discover their appeal.

-  Crystal Lee and Annabel Tan

LE MATIN PATISSERIE

Pictures of the elusive Le Matin Patisserie pastries were the cause of much envy on Instagram during the Circuit Breaker in Singapore two years ago. Scoring a box felt like winning the lottery, as it was often sold out within minutes. Back then, the business only operated online and chef-owner Mohamed Al-Matin and his team churned out about 30 boxes of specially curated French pastries a day for delivery – inadvertently kickstarting the popular pastry box trend among patisseries in Singapore.

Initially, each Le Matin box contained a variety of four to five freshly baked sweet viennoiseries such as the crowd-favourite Kouign Amann, Pistachio Escargot and Almond Croissant. Savoury pastries followed and have continued to be mainstays.

Le Matin was born two years after chef Matin returned home to fulfil his dream of opening his own patisserie. He was previously the pastry sous chef of Noma in Copenhagen, and has also worked with top chefs around the world the likes of Adriano Zumbo of Adriano Zumbo Patissier, Christopher Théof Black Star Pastry, and Andre Chiang of Restaurant Andre.

Following the online business’ success, the chef opened a small physical outlet in Raeburn Park to great response despite the inaccessible location. They have since moved and expanded to two new and more central stores at 77 Robinson Road and Porcelain Caféby Le Matin at Paragon that offers a high tea menu. Customers can also continue to order pastries for delivery at lematinpatisserie.com.

ROCKPOOL RUM