Fête Pulse with Duo Patisserie
Eric Chan and Rocky Yuen
As Told to Jennifer Lau
Photography Courtesy of Duo Patisserie
Tell us about Duo
It all started in 2015, Rocky tells us. Eric wanted to bring French-inspired sweets to Toronto with his passion for baking, so he took on the role of head pastry chef . Rocky originally made the coffee behind the bar, having served as a barista in other shops before. But within 5 years of starting their business, things have changed quite a bit and not just because of the pandemic.
What is it like to own a dessert house?
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Eric: There is not a lot of time off, to be sure. We close regularly on Mondays but it is really just to prepare for what’s to come.
We work year-round except for January. Many in the food industry know that it’s a slow season because of various factors such as Christmas spending and New Years’ resolutions. The latter affects us the most as many resolutions may include less sugar intake!
That being said, we do take a few weeks off every January to travel. But even the travelling is tied to our business as we go to seek inspiration in Paris or Tokyo. Because we work every single day, we need to know what is out there and learn about the trends.
Rocky: It’s also important to be flexible. I work more back of house now too, and trust my team in the front to take care of the coffee and customer service. I have many team meetings even after closing but it’s all worth it for our dream cafe.
How did you attract your loyal customers?
Eric: To be honest, our customers kept us quite busy from the start and helped us share images and testimonies about our cakes. I think our simple decor with soft oak colours and egg-shell white walls was also very inviting. Most of all, our rich selection of croissants and cakes was the foundation of our brand. I can’t say we spent too much time on social media to promote ourselves but we’re very thankful for our fans who post about us and continue to encourage us!
“Since we had to close early because of the pandemic, we wanted to make the most of the extra time to update our website. Before we had not had a moment to change the style and the ordering processes could have been improved for better user experience. We’re glad that we were able to dedicate some time to this part of the business since we are normally too busy with production to focus on the digital.”
How did you adapt your business during COVID-19?
Our first instinct was to follow the news in order to be up-to-date with all the protocols. We trained the team and kept everyone informed about the statuses as soon as we learned of them. We closed early each day beginning May 22.
Since we had to close early because of the pandemic, we wanted to make the most of the extra time to update our website. Before we had not had a moment to change the style and the ordering processes could have been improved for better user experience. We’re glad that we were able to dedicate some time to this part of the business since we are normally too busy with production to focus on the digital.
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During the pandemic, we closed off the limited seating our cafe offers. On particular days, we had to turn away a few people because we simply did not have enough cakes or croissants. So we asked for our customers to call to place orders in advance so they wouldn’t leave empty-handed. This was important for us and for our customers.
Over the past two months, it felt like Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day each weekend. We decided to close on Tuesdays as well in order to prepare for new creations, new cakes.
What's next?
We hope to continue to innovate even though the times are uncertain. Since we are able to catch the tail end of summer, we came up with two new meringue cakes — Mango Pavlova and Strawberry Pavlova. Hopefully, we will be able to do this for years to come.
We can’t wait to see what Duo Patisserie will come up with next as these young Chinese Canadian dessert-loving entrepreneurs continue their journey.
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