Recipe for success

After graduating in interior design from Silpakorn University, Darin started work at S&P Restaurants and was put in charge of packaging. But after a year, she decided to resign and study to become a pastry chef.

But she never got the chance.

Visaka Raiva, a relative of S&P's owner, wanted to start a bakery and asked Darin if she would work for her at the new restaurant and bakery.

"I wanted to study but didn't want to miss an opportunity," Darin says. She was sent to S&P for training. There, she learnt about baking cakes and creating new recipes.

"In the beginning, the owner [of Vanilla Industry] wanted me to work as the outlet manager. But when she tasted my desserts, she liked them. We have pretty much the same taste in food," Darin says.

She says that she liked her job as a graphic designer. "But making pastry never puts me to sleep," she says with a smile. Darin loves pastries. She loves to try new recipes, study and experiment and eat her creations.

"When I eat a good pastry, I want to know what's in it, how it's made and then try to make it," she says.

"I used to not eating meals. Mostly, I had pastry."

Darin reads everything about pastries, even Japanese comics. She says she has learnt a lot of technical baking terms from them - but, of course, her training at S&P was better. And more rigorous.

Darin spent nine months in training and repeatedly thought about quitting. "The plan was to get three months of training. But the restaurant wasn't ready until six months later," she says.

"I had to travel from my house in Pak Kret [Nonthaburi] to the other side of town to Sukhumvit Soi 62. I didn't get paid much and thought if I didn't get the job within a year, I might have to quit."

However, Darin was both patient and determined. And she still is focused on her goals.

"A pastry chef doesn't lead a fancy life," she says.

"It's hard work. Most days, I feel physically and mentally exhausted. You have to stand for hours and take both compliments and critical comments. When the dessert is good and people enjoy it, it's your credit. When it's bad and they don't like it, it's your fault."

During the past four years, Vanilla Industry has opened four outlets. It started its Vanilla Industry store in Siam Square, then opened Vanilla Restaurant at Playground, Thong Lor, Vanilla Brasserie on the ground floor of Siam Paragon and a new Vanilla in Soi Ekamai. Each store has its own concept and style and has different menus to serve that area's customers.

The 26-year-old pastry chef is responsible for all dessert menus. She creates new desserts for every couple months for each Vanilla shop.

"The opening of each outlet is very taxing," Darin says.

"I also have to go to each shop and supervise the pastry staff."

Darin also has to calculate costs, record her recipes, check inventory and order supplies and train the servers to give details to customers about the dessert menus. She even takes dessert orders, sells cake, makes crepes, scoops ice cream and cleans the oven and dishes and mops the floor.

"I don't get to serve or clean very much, only when we are short of staff" Darin says.

"I just want to make Vanilla better all the time."

Darin still hasn't attended formal pastry classes and says that's her weakness.

"Many people ask me what school I graduated from. They expect to hear something like Cordon Bleu," she says.

"My friends who went to the pastry school are always stunned by unconventional creations. I use ingredients like Kid's jelly and Hershey's chocolate in my desserts. I work in a different regimen. I'll start from what I, as customer, want to eat and create a recipe to satisfy that desire.

"And I use Vanilla's owner as the laboratory rat," Darin says with a laugh.

By Rojana Manowalailao

The Nation