AT GLACE is one of the Bukit Panjang branches of Pâtisserie Glacé, a Japanese pastry brand started in Singapore in 2008 by Chef Tomoko with the aim of bringing the taste of Japanese cakes, pies, cookies and tarts to local customers. From day one, Chef Tomoko and her team have focused on recreating the taste of Japan using high-quality ingredients without preservatives, aiming to make treats a mother would be comfortable serving her own child.
Tomoko and her business partner set out to make healthy, tasty and moderately-priced Japanese pastries accessible to the wider Singapore market, rather than positioning the brand as a luxury or occasional-treat bakery. Since 2010, Pâtisserie Glacé has also run baking classes so both amateurs and professionals can learn to "Bake Like Glacé" at home.
Beyond the counter, the brand runs a sustainability push called "Choose Earth", encouraging customers to bring their own eco-bags and reusable containers to cut down on single-use plastic, and has a history of charitable giving - donating baking class proceeds and sales from special product packs to Japan disaster relief efforts following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake.
AT GLACE is a Bukit Panjang outpost of Pâtisserie Glacé, a Japanese pastry business that's been operating in Singapore since 2008. It was founded by Chef Tomoko with a clear goal: bring the cakes, pies, cookies and tarts of Japan to Singapore, made to the same standard you'd expect back home.
From the very start, Chef Tomoko and her staff have been hands-on in getting every product to taste as close as possible to the Japanese original. That comes down to a simple principle repeated throughout the brand's own story: use the highest quality ingredients, skip the preservatives, and make treats that a mother would be happy to serve her own child. Tomoko and her business partner built the brand around making these pastries healthy, tasty and moderately priced, rather than treating Japanese-style baking as a rare indulgence.
Since October 2010, Pâtisserie Glacé has run baking classes, open to both complete beginners and working professionals who want to pick up the brand's techniques. It's an unusual move for a retail bakery - rather than keeping recipes close to the chest, Glacé has built a whole side of the business around teaching customers to recreate its cakes and pastries at home.
Pâtisserie Glacé also runs a sustainability initiative it calls "Choose Earth", aimed at reducing single-use plastic across its stores. Customers are encouraged to bring their own eco-bags when buying cakes, and their own reusable containers when buying individual slices for personal consumption. The brand set itself a public goal of phasing out single-use plastic by the end of 2020.
As a Japanese pastry brand operating from Singapore, Pâtisserie Glacé has repeatedly stepped in to support disaster relief efforts back in Japan. Following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the brand donated a percentage of total sales and all baking class proceeds on a monthly basis, first through the Singapore Red Cross and later through the Japanese Embassy in Singapore, totalling tens of thousands of Singapore dollars over several years. After the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, Glacé again donated baking class proceeds, plus sales from special single packs of madeleine and choco madeleine, raising SGD872.50 for the Japanese Red Cross via the Embassy of Japan.
Beyond the retail counter, Pâtisserie Glacé also handles corporate orders and caters to customers with special dietary needs, making it a option worth considering for office functions or gifting as well as personal treats.
AT GLACE operates as one of several Pâtisserie Glacé locations across Singapore. For the most current opening hours and any store-specific details for the Bukit Panjang branch, it's best to check directly with the store, as the brand's main site lists full details on its dedicated locations and opening hours page.