Pastry chef Janice Wong on creating art with desserts
Aug 02, 2024
Art and gastronomy came together in sweet and stunning fashion during esteemed pastry chef Janice Wong’s recent residency with Marriott International Fiji. Stephenie Gee reports
The relationship between art and gastronomy is an intuitive one. For many gourmands, good food is defined by more than just the ingredients, recipes and cooking techniques used. Rather, the most memorable dishes often tell a story. Like artwork, a carefully constructed plate is a direct reflection of its maker. From conjuring a sense of place to eliciting fond childhood memories, food can evoke a spectrum of emotions in the same way as any fine art masterpiece.
Singaporean dessert maestro Janice Wong is one to agree. Asia’s Best Pastry Chef 2013 and 2014, and the 2024 recipient of the Pastry Innovation Award from French gastro guide La Liste, the 41-year-old is best known for creating art through the medium of dessert. It all started with a twist of fate that saw her put her economics degree aside to pursue culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she graduated with a pastry diploma and went on to learn from leading lights such as French pastry chef Pierre Hermé and American Thomas Keller. Driven by a passion to marry food with art, Wong opened 2am:dessertbar, a progressive dessert restaurant in Singapore’s Holland Village in 2007. But it was in 2011 that her artistic flair really came to the fore, when she set up 2am:lab, a culinary think tank of sorts that provided a platform for her experimental style. Her dedication to her craft has not gone unnoticed. Wong’s comestible art, from plated creations to tablescapes and striking installations where marshmallows hang like icicles from the ceiling or sugar formations evoke the life and colour of the undersea world, have since been exhibited at galleries and luxury house pop-ups across the world – most recently, and for the first time, in Fiji.
For 10 days in early May, Wong took up a residency with Marriott International Fiji to bring her culinary expertise to the archipelago. Kicking off at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort and wrapping up at Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay, Wong was eager to immerse herself in a new culture and environment. “I had never been to Fiji and I was always curious about the culture, food and people there,” she recalls. “I researched the places of interest in Fiji and the local ingredients available, such as the fruits, salt, chocolate, et cetera. I took inspiration from the surroundings and its beauty and prepared some of the colours of Fiji for the art wall before I arrived.”
In her creative process, Wong doesn’t believe in working with references. Instead, she draws inspiration from the locale – the ingredients, the surroundings, the culture – to push past the boundaries of possibility and tease out novel applications and original experiences. “My philosophy and approach to pastry art has always been about pushing the boundaries of what a ‘normal’ dessert should be,” she explains. “Creating the new normal and pushing the limits of food art is my passion. I always felt it was important to surround myself with good people, energy and colours as I am very free-spirited when it comes to creating art at the moment. Colours for me create emotional energy and it is reflected in my creations.”
Take as an example the aforementioned art wall. Built over a week utilising 20kg of chocolate from local
Fiji brands Vanua and KokoMana, and salt from South Seas Salt, it features shades of vibrant blues, greens, pinks, whites and yellows spilling over the canvas in varying forms reminiscent of the sea, sky and land. Chocolate bon bon lollipops – in flavours of praline pop rocks, salted cashew with caramel, and tamarind lemongrass – punctuate the flow of colours and bring an element of interactivity that compels a closer look. “Chocolate edible art is about the five senses, where guests can see, touch and taste the art. It is emotionally un-intimidating and interactive,” Wong says. “The art is curated differently for every event, with inspiration is drawn on the spot at the location. But I’ve always had the dream of feeding as many people chocolate as possible without having to pass around canapés.”
On a smaller scale, there’s the “Momi Garden” dessert, a limited-time menu item available at Marriott Momi Bay’s Tatavu Grill & Bar and Fish Bar until August 31. “My desserts always start off with being inspired by the quality and uniqueness of an ingredient,” Wong says. “For example, in Mexico, I would use a lot of tequila, mezcal, peppers, corn and cinnamon. While in Australia I would be inspired to use honey, lavender, macadamia, et cetera.” Featuring one of the major fruit commodities in Fiji, “Momi Garden” brings together local banana sponge with rose jelly, a chocolate mousse rock inspired by the resort’s natural surroundings and fragrant jasmine tea ganache “raked” on the plate.
The residency also saw a variety of multi-sensory experiences, including a sip and paint session, private sandbar picnic, collaboration dinners with executive chefs Marco Sanchez and Dante Nunez of the Sheraton and Marriott respectively, cocktail parties and a chocolate painting class. “The weather was challenging, and we were thankful it was not raining for most of the events. But there were many highlights – it was a first for me to be serving desserts on a sandbank so that experience was unforgettable!” says Wong. A 20-minute boat ride from the resort, the Momi Sand Bar offered an idyllic setting to indulge in her creations, all “wind-proof and sun-proof” and paired with bubbles. There were date (local, of course) and coffee madeleines; choux puffs, with fillings of either orange and chocolate dark rum, or orange with lemon myrtle; tahini bowls, made of light tahini mousse, tahini sponge, salted caramel and crunchy pistachios; and lemon myrtle cream cheese mousse cakes, topped with fresh local passion fruit and crowned with coral tuile.
“I also had a lot of fun creating different desserts with the executive chefs Marco and Dante of the respective restaurants in each of the properties, and creating art with the guests during our chocolate painting session,” Wong adds. “Personally, I also learned about the traditional Fiji lovo experience where ingredients are cooked in large quantities in an underground oven. That was definitely unique, as well as the drinking of kava. The goal was to create new experiences for the guests and team, which I think we did!”