Mooi Patisserie Relaunches As “More Accessible” Cafe After Head Pastry Chef’s Exit
Mooi Patisserie, a minimalist chic pastry shop co-founded by restaurateur Ken Loon, 48, who also co-owns seafood diner Naked Finn, and Netherlands-born Gail Ho, 31, the former head pastry chef of one Michelin-starred mod Korean restaurant Meta, ‘closed’ its doors on November 30. It was just shy of a year since its opening and the surprising news was announced on their Instagram account (the post has since been deleted).
Located in the off-the-beaten-track setting of Alexandra Technopark, the joint was named after Gail’s Dutch-spelled Chinese name. It offered croissants, cakes and tarts as well as coffees from Japanese roaster Milton Coffee Roastery. 8days.sg praised the shop’s restaurant-quality tarts during our visit last December.
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Office folks in the area prefer more budget-friendly pastries with coffee
When 8days.sg reached out to Ken, the restaurateur confirmed the departure of Gail and the rebranding of the patisserie – there was no buy-out as the pastry chef did not invest capital into the venture.
“In the 11 months since we opened, we’ve been losing money. As the majority of our revenue is from coffee, we decided to pivot to a coffee-centric cafe rather than focusing on pastries,” he explains. Ken declined to elaborate on the amount lost, though he shared details on the partnership dissolution with Gail off-the-record.
Despite Gail’s talent in creating intricate desserts like a layered chocolate tart (above pic) and vanilla millefeuille, the business struggled to attract enough customers. This indicated a preference for simpler, more budget-friendly pastries that complement coffee at the mostly-takeout joint in an industrial office area. Sustaining a three-person pastry team contributed to high labour cost, further impacting profitability.
These factors ultimately led the owners to the decision of closing the brand “Mooi”, with Gail exiting the partnership. Gail did not respond to 8days.sg’s request for comment.
New co-owner trained at Le Cordon Bleu Sydney
Despite incurring losses since the shop’s opening, Ken decided to keep it running after his longtime business partner, Karen Tan, 43, stepped in as co-owner with a majority stake.
“I’ve been friends with Ken for a really long time and I’ve seen how he operates his other restaurants. I believe in him and I think he’s good at what he does. He has a really good team here. I’m also pastry-trained, so I believe I can contribute towards building this place,” she shares.
Karen revealed that she trained at Le Cordon Bleu Sydney but chose not to pursue a career as a pastry chef. She founded Five & Dime Eatery, a now-defunct casual Western cafe at River Valley Road, about a decade ago.
With new ownership, Mooi will be renamed Wren – a songbird known for its adaptability and boldness, traits that the owners hope would manifest in the new cafe. The new moniker is also a nod to Karen’s nickname. The joint has retained a pastry chef and barista who worked at Mooi since its opening. Meanwhile, Karen plans to take on an active role in managing the joint, including hands-on work in the pastry kitchen.
Business as usual, with more seats soon
The owners share that Wren will be transitioning into a “cosier, more accessible” cafe. “We’ll use brighter colours and add more plants to liven up the space. We just started shopping for new furniture, as we want to offer more seats. We want the cafe to be suitable for dine-in rather than just takeaway,” says Karen.
Currently, the cafe offers 18 seats in its rather spacious dine-in area. Wren’s owners plan to accommodate around 30 after the revamp, which they expect to be completed by next February. In the meantime, the cafe continues to serve pastries as well as black, white, cold brew and iced coffee using beans from Japanese roaster Milton Coffee Roastery.
Menu now more affordable
While the pastry selection is more pared-down (no more fancy tarts and choux pastries, for instance), Wren’s menu still carries an array of quintessential bakes like cookies, scones and quiches. Croissants are still available, but in a mini version. In fact, all pastries are now in more petite sizes – think palm-sized croissants and pain au chocolat – aligning with the cafe’s new emphasis on simpler, easy-to-eat bakes that pair well with their coffee offerings.
Prices are much more affordable too, with all items priced $5 or below (compared to Mooi’s more decadent bakes, like the tarts which cost up to $14 each). The mini viennoiseries start from $4.50 for three, while individual quiches and scones go for $4.80 each. Check out their new Instagram account for updates.
Wren is at #01-06/07 Blk C, Alexandra Technopark, 483C Alexandra Rd, S119976. Opens daily except Tue 9am - 4pm. More info via Instagram.
Photos: Chin Chih Lin & Alvin Teo
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