Models Eat...and Bake Too - Petite Amanda Patisserie (Hong Kong)

Last month, I shared with everyone how a movie and two wonderful ladies have changed my life (click here to find out who have inspired me).  Today, I am going to share another inspiring story with you about how a model has turned to become a baker and the owner of a French patisserie in Hong Kong.

Amanda Strang, my favorite model has just opened her first patisserie in IFC, Hong Kong.  I am so excited to hear that her "baby" is finally out after all these years of her hard works.  Most American might not know who she is.  She is a successful model and a TV food show host in Hong Kong.  I fell in love with Amanda when I first saw her face.  She is always cute and classy and reminds me of a mixed (Taiwanese and French) version of Aurdry Hepburn.

Let me give you a little background about Amanda -

Amanda had lived in French, India and Taiwan most of her life when she was a kid.  She went to Boston for college.  After graduating from college, she visited Hong Kong for fun and got discovered by a modeling agency.  She immediately started her modeling career and got very successful in Asia (especially in Hong Kong).  However, her passion towards food and French pastry had stopped her to think about taking a break from her successful modeling career and enroll at Le Cordon Bleu to prusuit her dream of opening her own store.  She has interned at Caprice and Ladurée as well as with Jacques Genin for NON-PAID for couple years.  After years of preparation, her first patisserie has just opened in August 2011.  If you want to know more about what made her decided to give up her catwalk career and turned to baking and making desserts (click here for a recent interview).  She also has a blog to share her recipes and her journey in French, if you are interested, click here.

I have not had chance to check out her patisserie yet, so I could not tell you what my verdict is.  But I could share some pictures I found from various websites with you.  So you could check out her patisserie if you have chance, and let me know how it is.

*Note:  to see what other people think about her pastisserie, click here.

Petite Amanda. Open Monday - Friday 8 a.m. 8 p.m.; Saturday - Sunday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Shop 2096, International Finance Centre Mall 2, Central, +852 2234 7222 (just next by Starbucks)

The design and colors of her patisserie matches Amanda's classy and clean-cut style.

 Amanda's Verrine ($70.00 HKD), made of maple syrup jelly, orange compote,
whipped cream and sweet crumble topping
[Note:  you could keep the the exclusive Le Creuset ramekin it's serve in.]

The Delice Aux Abricots is a cute-as-a-button dome of white chocolate mousse with an apricot compote filling and a crushed biscuit bottom.

They also made various French breads daily - Pain au Levain

Their signature triangled cake box

One of the desserts at the store

This is Amanda's signature dessert.  A quote from her - 

"Ah! That has to be my chocolate cake. I make it with three layers of different textures so they all contrast and meld together with different flavour infusions in a really satisfying way."

Amanda is introducing her deserts to her customers.  

A lot of reviewers said that she is SUPER nice and thoughtful.  She asked about what they like and suggested them what kinds of desserts they should get.

I somehow feel a strong connection between Amanda and myself.  Of course, I am not talking about our faces or bodies (she is out of my league).  I feel that we both have the passion towards food and food industry and pursuing our dreams are not easy, but we did at least try.  

I  know her new journey has just began, and I truly wish that her new career will become as successful as her modeling career.  And please keep introducing great French pastries to everyone in the world.