How Janice Wong Built A Dessert Empire | Singapore Hour

Key Concepts

• 2am: dessertbar: Janice Wong's pioneering dessert restaurant, established in 2007, known for innovative, art-inspired desserts and an open kitchen concept.
• Janice Wong Brand: A confectionery brand launched in 2014, focusing on chocolate bonbons, cakes, and edible art, distinct from the dessert bar.
• Edible Art: Large-scale, interactive art installations created using food, particularly chocolate and marshmallows, designed for multi-sensory experiences.
• Strawberry Caprese: A signature dessert at 2am: dessertbar, inspired by Janice's experience tasting fresh strawberries in Australia, featuring complex flavor profiles (earthy, grassy, sour, herbaceous, floral).
• Chocolate Bonbons: Handcrafted chocolates, often with intricate designs and fillings, central to the Janice Wong confectionery brand.
• Cocoa Butter: A fat extracted from the cocoa bean, used in chocolate making and for coloring chocolate creations (e.g., red cocoa butter spray).
• Ganache: A rich, creamy filling made from chocolate and cream, often flavored (e.g., orange ganache).
• Five-Sense Experience: A core philosophy in Janice Wong's edible art, aiming to engage sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound.

Introduction: Janice Wong - Chef, Artist, Creator

Janice Wong identifies herself as both a chef and an artist, driven by a deep-seated passion for creation. She states, "Perfection is kind of in my blood," and considers her superpower in the kitchen to be "creating." Her journey is marked by a continuous evolution, moving towards a more "feminine, classy" aesthetic, with products that are "slightly a little bit more luxurious as well but still very experimental."

The Genesis of 2am: dessertbar

In 2007, Janice Wong established 2am: dessertbar, a unique culinary space that has been operating for 18 years. The name "2am" signifies "the hour of my craving," reflecting her personal connection to desserts. Her love for sweets began at age three with Japanese choux puffs and later developed into an addiction to chocolate. The dessert bar features an open kitchen and a long table, allowing guests to sit directly in front of her as she plates dishes, often paired with wines. The team at 2am: dessertbar is intentionally small, fostering strong bonds and a culture where employees, like a service manager who transitioned to the bar side, are given "freedom to create" and mentored rather than simply managed.

Signature Creations and Culinary Philosophy

Janice Wong's creations are deeply personal and often inspired by her experiences:

• Strawberry Caprese: This is the most popular dessert at 2am: dessertbar and holds significant personal meaning. Its inspiration stems from a transformative experience in an Australian farm where she tasted a strawberry that was "earthy, grassy," and full of "beautiful flavours." The dessert incorporates a homemade "strawberry pickle juice" for freshness and sourness, chartreuse for herbaceous notes, and lavender marshmallows and lychee pearls for floral notes and bursting textures. Each bite is designed to evoke a "memory of mine that I had in the garden."
• Chinese New Year Collection: Annually, Janice designs unique chocolate animals based on the zodiac year. For the Year of the Horse, she created a chocolate horse, involving a multi-step process: molding, attaching legs to ensure it can stand, and then spraying it with "red cocoa butter." These creations are filled with "orange ganache" in dark chocolate, a classic flavor pairing. The collection is presented in specially designed packaging that includes a Chinese greeting, aiming for a "surprise" element. This period is seen as a season where people "explode with their creativity," and her collection is described as "creative, elegant and delicious."

Evolution to the Janice Wong Brand and Confectionery Artistry

In 2014, Janice Wong launched her eponymous brand, Janice Wong, to focus specifically on confectioneries. This brand allows her to express different techniques through "chocolate bonbons and cakes," where her "artistry comes to life." The brand has expanded to "about four outlets in Singapore and we have two outlets overseas."

The Transformative Power of Art and Food

Janice's career path was profoundly influenced by a personal tragedy. "20 years ago, I had a really bad car accident" that left her in a coma. This event made her realize "how fragile life was," leading her to pick up brushes and a canvas to paint, and simultaneously to become "very curious about food." She traveled to New York and Spain, working in various kitchens to "discover all these unique food techniques and cultures of the world" before returning home to establish her own identity.

Her artistic expression extends beyond traditional culinary boundaries into large-scale edible art installations:

• Marshmallow Ceiling (2011): For her first book, she wanted people to "taste my book." This led to her first edible art piece: a "four metre ceiling" made of marshmallows that people "could pluck marshmallows off the walls," an experience that "blew everybody's minds."
• Chocolate Bar Painting Workshop: Initiated 12 years ago, this workshop empowers participants to "design their own chocolate bars" using chocolate paints, inspired by her own practice of painting with chocolate. She also educates participants about the cocoa pod and the 650 chocolate trees in Singapore.
• Upcoming Thailand Exhibition: Janice is preparing for a major exhibition in Thailand, featuring a "chocolate edible tunnel" with "16 walls of 3D chocolate art." This installation is designed to be a "five-sense experience" where people can "pick art off the wall" and "taste the art," with "over ten flavours" available. The colors are inspired by "Thailand's vibrant colours," reflecting the "land of smiles." The exhibition will utilize "at least about 600 kilogrammes of chocolate."

Work Ethic, Inspiration, and Personal Well-being

Janice Wong maintains a rigorous schedule, working "about 300 over days a year" and spending "200 days on the road" for overseas events, including cooking for 2,000 people in Dubai and preparing another 2,000 desserts in Mumbai the next day. Despite the intensity, she finds "a lot of joy in that," stating, "I think it’s an understatement that I'm an overachiever. I just love to see what else I can do more to bring more joy to people."

To manage this demanding lifestyle, she prioritizes personal well-being, visiting Kallang Riverside Park in the mornings for walks and breathing exercises, and practicing yoga "about three times a week." Her current artistic representation, the rose, symbolizes her evolution towards a more "feminine, classy" and "luxurious" yet "experimental" approach to her products.

Conclusion: A Vision of Continuous Creation

Janice Wong's journey is a testament to the power of passion, resilience, and boundless creativity. From a personal craving to a global brand, she continuously pushes the boundaries of culinary art, transforming food into multi-sensory experiences. Her work, whether in a dessert bar, a confectionery shop, or a large-scale edible art exhibition, is driven by a singular vision: to express herself through art and to bring joy to people through innovative, delicious, and visually stunning creations. Her commitment to constant innovation and her ability to connect personal memories and cultural inspirations with technical precision define her unique contribution to the culinary and art worlds.