She quit engineering to study baking at Paris’ Le Cordon Bleu, now runs a Penang patisserie

Hailing from Sungai Bakap, a small town on mainland Penang, Ooi Hooi Shing had followed the well-trodden path of becoming an electronic engineer. With her master’s degree, she worked at Intel for around five years.

However, her true calling lay somewhere else. The engineer had always loved baking, so much so that she would bake almost every week for family and friends.

So, at one point, she decided to pursue her dreams in Paris. In preparation, she even attended Alliance Française de Penang to pick up the Romance language.

In May 2013, she left her job and headed to Paris to start her pastry journey.

Hooi Shing went on to obtain her Diplome de Patisserie in Le Cordon Bleu Paris. After the training, she did her stage in Shangri La Paris, in the pastry kitchen led by Chef Francois Perret.

Eventually, she went on to bring her expertise home to Penang, establishing Le Petit Four Patisserie.

Beginning humbly

Le Petit Four, which means the little oven, initially got its start as a “very small” cake vendor at Hin Bus Depot, an arts and events space in Penang.

“There was a day I met my friend, and she suggested sharing a table with her during the weekend market,” she recalled.

It was there that she met someone by the name of Mr Tan Shih Toe, who in turn showed Hooi Shing a place where she could set up a small kitchen.  

Taking his recommendation, Le Petit Four Patisserie officially opened in 2016 at Hutton Lane. At that point, though, it was a small kitchen that could only accommodate one person.

Slowly and steadily, Le Petit Four began to grow, and in 2018, they upgraded to their current space in the heart of George Town.

Joining Hooi Shing on this journey was Elveen Tai, who takes care of the coffee bar and beverage menu.

But even though they’ve changed in terms of their space and capacity, some things stay the same.

“We never change in our philosophy,” Hooi Shing shared. “We strongly believe in passion, skillset, good ingredients, and taking every step of the process with love.”

Competing with the crowd

Having been a stalwart in the Penang patisserie scene for six years now, some even dub Le Petit Four to possibly be Penang’s most popular “cafe-bakery”.

In an interview with So Good magazine, Hooi Shing herself shared that before she started, Penang never quite had a proper French patisserie. As such, Penangites often had to travel to places like Kuala Lumpur for the real thing.

Speaking with Vulcan Post now, though, she shared that she doesn’t see Le Petit Four as a pioneer of patisseries in Penang. But with more and more pastry shops opening up in the region now, they certainly are one of the notable names.

That said, if you look up patisseries in Penang today, you will come across quite a number of well-established names. Hooi Shing believes that consistent quality across their creations is what keeps her patisserie competitive.

“Customer will come back eventually,” she said. “Trust the process.”

Growing the Penang patisserie scene

Going forward, Hooi Shing doesn’t have any big, ambitious plans, but rather aims to continue doing what they do now—French pastries and desserts that focus on quality.

To do this, she is sure to stay abreast of the current trends and techniques within the industry.

“As patissiers around the world continue to perfect [their craft], I am beginning to see many patisseries that have started to experiment with local ingredients,” she pointed out.

Picking up on this, Le Petit Four has also created a dessert that makes use of pulut hitam, combining French techniques with Malaysian flavours.

When asked about what her biggest challenges are, Hooi Shing shared something that many F&B entrepreneurs do—labour. Hiring someone who is truly passionate about what they do can be a pretty big ask.

That said, the Le Petit Four seems to have grown over the years, with seemingly many young chefs on the team.

In a way, the patisserie seems to have become an establishment that fosters local talents, growing Penang’s patisserie culture and craft.

Featured Image Credit: Le Petit Four