Dubbed the Hottest Bakery in NYC, Meet the M’sian Couple Who Wowed Food Critics With Traditional Kuih

The couple, Mogan Anthony from Sungai Petani, Kedah, and Seleste Tan from Kulai, Johor, owns a bakery called Lady Wong Patisserie on 9th Street in New York. The business, which started in 2022, was dubbed ‘the hottest bakery in NYC’ by a food website, Eater.

Their success story did not stop there as the business was also mentioned in renowned publications like The New York Times, Forbes, and Los Angeles Times.

Lady Wong was born out of Mogan & Seleste's homesickness

Mogan and Seleste first met while working at Four Seasons, Singapore. At the time, Mogan was working in the front of the house while Seleste was the pastry chef. The two of them moved to New York around 2006 after a mutual friend opened a restaurant there.

The husband-and-wife duo credited their homesickness to the birth of Lady Wong Patisserie. The pandemic had prohibited them from returning to Malaysia, so they decided to channel their feelings into creating homemade kuihs.

The couple, who were both savoury and pastry chefs, revealed that Lady Wong Patisserie started as a pop-up. They initially gave away home-baked goods for free, but it later evolved into a successful business.

In an interview with Tatler Asia, Seleste said they started receiving about 25 orders per session, but eventually, they would sell over 70 boxes of desserts. That's when the couple decided it was time for them to open an actual bakery.

Regarding the name ‘Lady Wong,’ the couple initially said they wanted to name their business Lady Ong after the word lucky in Hokkies. But, they later decided to add the letter ‘W’ so it would work better on their business card.

As of now, Lady Wong Patisserie can be found in the East Village and at a kiosk at Urban Hawker.

Despite both being a chef, their startup also faced a couple of challenges

Mogan and Seleste had worked at several Michelin-starred restaurants, including Jean-Georges, Perry St., WD-50, Shangri-La, and Four Seasons. Yet, with such an impressive repertoire, the couple admitted that they had to learn the recipes of traditional kuihs online as it wasn't their area of expertise.

Seleste said that the biggest difference in making kuih is the technique that evolved around steaming, which is less precise than baking.

Lady Wong Patisserie is very popular for its pandan mooncakes, nian gao (a sweet Chinese New Year delicacy), and pineapple tarts.

To maintain authenticity, the couple imported all their kuih ingredients from multiple countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Other Lady Wong's Patisserie favourites include seri muka, curry puff, and angku kuih.