Baguettes, rye bread, pastries, honey cake – three artisan bakers in Hong Kong whose loaves and Viennoiserie fly off the shelves
- From Latvian rye bread at vegan bakery Mayse to classic European pastries at Plumcot, these artisan bakers know their canelés from their croissants
- They only use the best ingredients, and customers queue up to grab their breads, cakes, and pastries fresh from the oven
Understandably, after a year of staying at home, baking has never been more popular. Instagram and other social media feeds are filled with pictures of sourdough starters, twisted babkas and iced cupcakes. But even with so many people baking at home, commercial bakeries are still busy.
Swiss baker Gregoire Michaud, who spent 15 years leading the pastry team at the Four Seasons Hotel in Central, Hong Kong, recently opened a second outlet of his hugely popular Bakehouse. The queues at the SoHo branch are as long as those at the original Wan Chai location, and are testament to his beautiful breads and pastries.
Michaud explains the draw of baking bread when times are hard. “Bakeries have always been the heart of villages, from ancient times. It brings people together, the comfort of feeling safe. We have seen it in so many conflicts around the world and now this pandemic – bread is a staple that feeds the body and the soul.”
While Bakehouse and places like New York import Dang Wen Li, by another superstar baker, Cronut inventor Dominique Ansel, go from strength to strength (Dang Wen Li opened a pop-up in the upscale IFC Mall in Central), Hong Kong has dozens of smaller and lesser-known artisan bakeries with their own signature creations.
One is Mayse Artisan Bakery in the small, picturesque village of Tai Mei Tuk beside Plover Cove reservoir in the northeastern New Territories beyond Tai Po. Adjacent to popular cycle tracks, it’s the definition of a friendly neighbourhood spot.
It has an unusual backstory. For almost 30 years, Aleksandrs Strelits-Strele was a double bassist in the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. Eleven years ago he came to Hong Kong on business, met the Indonesian woman who would become his wife, and decided to stay. A few years ago, his daughter Elina, a fine arts graduate who paints portraits of dogs, gave him a book on baking as a present.
On the weekend we have three or four times when different things are available and people know when to come. On weekends, baguettes are available at 11am. By 11.30, they’re all gone.
She explains: “He complained about really bad bread in Hong Kong. He’d get flushes and realised there are so many chemicals in [commercial bread], and instant yeast which lets it rise quickly, but it means there’s no time for vitamins or minerals to develop in the dough.
“Plus, bleached flour has chlorine to make it whiter, so understandably we get gluten intolerance – people used to eat bread and were fine!”
Aleksandrs started baking at home and friends started asking if they could order some. Three years ago he found a space, did all the renovation work himself and opened Mayse – the Latvian word for bread. Elina says: “It was risky and crazy but we just knew the bread was good.
“We have many traditions, but bread is a huge part of our culture and diet; it is almost seen as sacred back home. Dad will not cut corners. Our focaccia, for example, is full of super high quality extra virgin olive oil with Himalayan salt – each ingredient is thought about.”
Today Mayse is 100 per cent vegan, not especially for ethical reasons. “We have so many allergies and religions now, we just wanted to be able to offer our produce to everyone,” Elina says.
Their items range from sourdough vegan pizzas to garlic and truffle ciabatta, and 15 types of savoury and sweet bread. They all sell out. Their signature item reflects their homeland: Latvian traditional rye bread that is fermented for 40 hours.
Elina says: “The starter was from dad’s home, the signature flavour is caraway seeds. We use heritage rye grains as well as some ancient, secret Russian techniques. You can keep it for a week or two, and it’s still edible and good.”
With perfect timing, a customer literally squeals with delight upon learning a loaf had been saved for her behind the counter. Like her, we’ll be back again – and keep an eye out for the seriously spicy Indonesian chilli sauce also on offer.
Compact but charming Tai Hang marries a bohemian vibe with a traditional neighbourhood and is home to Plumcot. It was founded by a husband-and-wife pastry team, chefs Camille Moënne-Loccoz and Hong Kong-born Dominique Yau, both of whom worked for years in Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris and for famed baker Pierre Hermé.
Named after a hybrid fruit that is a cross between a plum and an apricot, Plumcot is a tiny space where all the baking is done on site. Regulars can’t get enough of their beautifully crafted patisserie creations, from sublime croissants to perfect canelés – notoriously difficult to make caramelised pastries flavoured with rum and vanilla.
Starting work at 7am – and earlier on the weekends – along with their assistant Brook Chak, they hand-craft more than 20 different lines using prime ingredients such as butter and flour imported from France, and Valrhona chocolate.
Moënne-Loccoz says: “People really come for our Viennoiserie – sweet pastries – and baguettes. On the weekend we have three or four times when different things are available and people know when to come. On weekends, baguettes are available at 11am. By 11.30, they’re all gone.”
A small chalkboard behind him lists pastries such as brioche, canelés and croissants, also marked with their all-important baking times.
Apart from limited supply and great demand, the only other challenge seems to be space, but Moënne-Loccoz and his team are considering a larger bakery, or maybe even a café.
Tasting the croissants, it’s clear to see why they’re so sought after: fabulous and decadent, rich with butter, but also light. The canelés are similarly superb, with the sought-after borderline burnt effect.
Finally to Sha Tin by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where the Hyatt Regency hotel’s Patisserie sells a local favourite – for those in the know.
Yip says: “From a Chinese medicine perspective, honey is effective in hydrating the skin and easing digestive problems, while the intense flavour and flowery fragrance is truly refreshing.”
The honey is used in two items at the Patisserie: the honey cake and Sha Tin apple pie. For the first item, chef Kelvin Lai’s pastry team mixes flour, honey, milk, eggs and sugar as well as different amounts of water, depending on the humidity.
It is then baked in a tailor-made wooden base, but not before it has received an iron stamp with a honeycomb design on top, one that cleverly also looks like the Hyatt Regency logo.
Around 30 honey cakes are sold each weekend. Light and airy, with a distinct but not overpowering honey flavours and containing no chemicals or preservatives, they should be eaten within two or three days of purchase – although, like all the breads and pastries we’ve mentioned, they’re unlikely to last that long anyway.
Mayse Artisan Bakery 64 Sam Wo Road, Tai Mei Tuk Tsuen, tel: 9533 0336
Plumcot 10A Sun Chun Street, Tai Hang, tel: 2573 6293
Patisserie Hyatt Regency Sha Tin 18 Chak Cheung Street, Ma Liu Shui, New Territories, tel: 3723 7988
