French Patisserie Antoinette Closing Down, Chef-Owner Opening Noodle Stall Instead

Before you start lamenting about how the pandemic is destroying businesses: it wasn’t the Circuit Breaker that killed it. While Antoinette’s chef-owner Pang Kok Keong told 8days.sg during the start of CB that business was down by 75%, the swift introduction of new takeaway offerings helped to pick things up so much that sales were comparable to that of the same period a year ago. Pang also quickly turned his weekend pop-up Pang’s Hakka Delicacies into a daily operation, and started offering delivery options for his food. “On hindsight, things could have been better planned. But, given the circumstances, we did the best we could,” says Pang.

What killed the business wasn’t an unsympathetic landlord either. In fact, Pang shares that their rent was lowered when they last renewed their lease.

It is the levy they pay to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for the use of the Penhas Road shophouse unit that has made the business unsustainable. The government requires the payment of levies for the conversion of certain shophouses into commercial uses.

“It’s getting very difficult to operate from our location at Penhas Road as the levy we pay has been increasing exponentially — in fact, it is even higher than the rent. We have reached a point where it is impossible to operate here, thus the decision to close Antoinette,” shares Pang. He declined to reveal the exact figures. If you're wondering why he doesn’t just relocate the business somewhere else — the Penhas Road venue is also the business’ main production facility with a large kitchen, and to set up a new venue with the same capability is a cost too big for the company to spend at this point in time. Its Millenia Walk outlet (pictured) is tiny in comparison.

It’s not easy to fold a business that one has nurtured over nine years, but harder for Pang is to bid his team members adieu. Many among his dozen-strong Antoinette team are work pass holders, so it will be challenging for them to stay in Singapore if they lose their jobs. For Pang — well-known in the industry for being appointed Hilton Hotel’s pastry chef at just 27, and setting up French patisserie Canele for Les Amis Group in 2004 — this isn’t a break-up with his passion for pastry either. “Closing Antoinette doesn’t mean that I am giving up baking,” he says, strongly hinting that other projects are underway but remaining tight-lipped on that for now.

While Pang can’t disclose any concrete plans for now, what he can share is that he will be opening a casual stall — called Pang’s Hakka Noodles — in a new city-fringe modern food court/hall venue by end of July. “This has been in the works since last October. In fact, it was originally supposed to open around Chinese New Year, but was delayed due to COVID-19. This new business development is also especially appealing post-Circuit Breaker. After the lessons of the pandemic, having a low start-up cost is critical for us,” says Pang.

Pang’s parents used to operate a fish ball noodle hawker stall in Jurong, and he says he loves all kinds of noodles — from bak chor mee to ramen and pasta. To go from operating an atas tearoom to a noodle stall might seem like a downgrade to some, but it really is a lifelong dream of his. Yet, don’t expect the father of three kids to be sweating it out at the stall though: “I would cook the noodles myself only if I were really giving up on baking! But for now, I think I have developed a recipe and system that will make it okay for someone with experience to operate the stall without my daily involvement,” says Pang, who also shares that he is currently speaking to potential candidates to helm the stall.

While dishes from Pang’s Hakka Delicacies — such as the superb thunder tea rice and mugwort kueh — won’t be sold at the noodle stall, the food is still steeped in Hakka tradition. The noodle dishes will be based on the yummy lard noodles currently sold through Pang’s Hakka Delicacies, and a set inclusive of Hakka yong tau foo and nan ru (fermented beancurd) fried chicken wings will also be available. Prices start from $7 for a noodle dish and $3 for two wings.

The wheat noodles, made by a noodle factory according to Pang’s own recipe developed over a period of four to five months, got mama Pang’s (pictured) approval. In fact, the matriarch has tried the entire set meal. “My mother is very encouraging of the move and very confident of the quality after she tried the entire set with noodles, yong tau foo and fried chicken,” shares Pang happily.

’Cos we love his thunder tea rice, we bugged him about the fate of Pang’s Hakka Delicacies. His cryptic response: “Give me a few more days to finalise things and I will tell you about a magical afternoon where everything changed.” Well, he did tell our editor last week that he’ll “definitely continue” with Pang’s Hakka Delicacies “one way or another”. This Hakka saga has more twists than a Korean drama. Watch this space.