Le Dux Patisserie – where passion rises with the dough
At the quiet break of dawn, while the city still slumbers, a warm glow begins to stir behind the glass walls of Le Dux Patisserie in upper Beach Street. By 5:00 am, Chef Belle Tan Phey Phey, a maître pâtissière, is already gently coaxing butter into layers of delicate croissant dough – a ritual she repeats each day (except on off days). It is here, in the heart of George Town, that craft meets care in the art of French pastry.
When I stepped into Le Dux for breakfast, the glass display cases were already filled with an array of freshly baked pastries. I started with the apple cinnamon escargot – no snail in sight, of course – just tart green apple with the warm spice of cinnamon, raisins and walnuts adding layers of surprise and crunch.
Then came the kouign-amann, a glistening, caramelised swirl of flaky pastry, the golden Breton treat glinting with sea salt flakes. As I was photographing this buttery offering, a French man at the next table noted that kouign-amann hails from a town in Brittany, meaning "butter cake" in Breton. Later, when I sat down to chat with Chef Belle, she explained that she had been determined to perfect the kouign-amann, making countless adjustments. She also noted that since the pastry already contains sugar, none is really needed to glaze the outer crust.
Saving the best for last to savour was the croissant – its shell crisp, flaking at the lightest touch to reveal a soft, pillowy interior. “This is where the magic begins", Chef Belle shared, speaking about lamination – the careful layers of folding chilled butter into pliant dough. “Each fold builds structure. During proofing, the dough is given time to rest and expand. When baking, trapped pockets of steam push the pastry to rise and flake. It is where food science meets culinary art.”
She also takes pride in using only top-quality imported ingredients – creamy French Lescure butter and fine-grade flour from Japan – because, as she puts it, “If you are going to make something with heart, start with the best". Lescure butter is prized for its rich flavour and creamy texture, made from milk produced by cows grazing in the lush pastures of the Charentes-Poitou region, an area renowned for its exceptional dairy.
It was indeed a lovely morning, meeting an inspiring soul who now knows that life is about making a conscious effort to make it count. I sat with a latte brewed from Brazilian beans, smooth and aromatic, and gazed into the open kitchen. Through the glass, I watched Chef Belle work – making some blood red “poison apples” that looked sinfully tempting. There was no rush in her hands, only intention, as she added a single gold flake for that final touch.
But Chef Belle’s journey here was not a straight line. A decade ago, she was deep in the corporate world – until stress and surgery forced a life-altering choice: her health or her pay cheque. She chose the former and followed her passion. Leaving her job behind, she began baking in her home kitchen, dreaming bigger with each passing day. That dream carried her all the way to Le Cordon Bleu in Australia, where she earned the prestigious Dux Award – the very name that now graces her patisserie.
Returning to Penang, she rebuilt her life from the ground up. She saved. She trained clients as a certified fitness coach – both to regain strength and to fund her vision. In February 2023, she opened Le Dux Patisserie, committed to craft and quality. It is a dream that proves it is never too late to rise.
There is heart in this place. You taste it in the golden flakes of croissant layers. You feel it in the warm welcome from the staff. And if you are lucky, I hope you will get a moment to chat with Chef Belle herself, to be inspired on how she turned burnout into brilliance and a hospital bed into a launch pad.
Le Dux is not about rushing through pastries and cakes. It is about pausing. Tasting. Appreciating. Remembering what can happen when someone dares to start over – and dares to do it with love.
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Written and photographed by Adrian Cheah
© All rights reserved
2 May 2025
P.S. "Passion may open the door, but perseverance keeps it open.” While it is tempting to believe that following one’s heart leads to a rosy path, the reality of running a successful patisserie is far more layered. Beyond mastering butter and dough, Chef Belle must also build strong supplier networks, manage a dedicated team, navigate cash flow and make sound business decisions each day. In life, stress does not disappear – it evolves and takes on new forms. Perhaps the greatest shift lies in perspective: learning to face stress not as an obstacle, but as a companion to growth. Alongside heart, it takes resilience, resourcefulness and solid business acumen. Here is wishing her continued strength and success as she shapes her dreams.
Le Dux Patisserie
255, Lebuh Pantai, George Town, 10300 George Town, Penang
Open daily 8:30 am – 6:00 pm daily except Tuesdays