From humble beginnings to the pinnacle of pastry excellence, Dej Kewkacha has been named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef 2025, sponsored by Valrhona. A self-taught talent with a fearless creative spirit, Dej has redefined Thailand’s dessert landscape with his bold, boundary-pushing creations—making him one of the most exciting pastry chefs in Asia today.
Dej Kewkacha Early Influences
Living abroad since young and that’s where I pick up many languages and food culture and also chance to dine at many fine top dining destination in the world.
Before the Chef, the Foodie
I was actually a foodie (food lover) before become a chef.
Entrepreneurial Spirit For
Passion to start own business.
Inspiration from Japan
Japan to me is like France of Asia (King of Pastry).
A Different Path
I’m a little different from other chefs perhaps, I actually came from a casual background before coming into fine dining industry. (usually is always another way round).
The Humble Beginning
I started off selling a $3 ice cream and slowly build on from there.
The Rise of Kyo Roll En
At 1 point, our signature brand KYO ROLL EN selling ice cream and roll cake were having about 45 branches in our company and that was when I felt I need to something differently as 45 branches are like a chain business so everything has to be systematic coming from Centre kitchen to keep the quality control which of course is a challenge in its own way. But I didn’t want to confine myself to just mass production so that’s where I started KYO BAR – dessert tasting omakase bar
Here, I have my own space to do what I want , to be more brave in terms of creations and also the flavour of the dessert. The menu there is purely just base on the seasonal produce, or the mood and of course tailor made menu to each customer just like an omakase sushi restaurant.
A Sweet Collaboration with Luxury Icons
2 yrs ago, this project came along, the concept of working with LV world famous luxury brand and Gaggan -top chef of the world really interest me. We had a chat among 3 parties and we agreed on the main idea of restaurant is to be approachable yet looks and feel luxurious whether is the dishware, the setting of the restaurant to the service which is also the framework how I approach the creating process of the menu here.
Fruit First, Always
Produce, always start with produce. Im a fruit lover! Living in Thailand, I’m fortunate to have lots of seasonal fruits, herbs and vegetable all year round. So, our menu here is base on seasonal thai produce but using Japanese and French pastry techniques. Same as Thai cuisine, our food is always involve with fresh herbs and spices which also the same as my dessert. Adding herbs to enhance the flavour and using lots of fruits to minimize the use of sugar to create a multi layer of taste as well as texture.
Turning Scraps into Stars: A Sustainable Twist on Dessert
It can be from everywhere. Sometimes is just that particular moment which give u an idea of a menu. For example, our menu will always have a palate cleansing course. As a French brand or French cuisine, usually we will be serve with some salad or vegetable course in between the menu so my idea is to create a vegetable course in a dessert form using fruits and vegetables. So even for people who dislike greens will be able to eat it.
And this menu came about from the idea of using the unwanted parts, the stalk of the vegetables, the skin of the fruits or the trimming of some leafs as our cold and hot kitchen will select the best part for our customers so I was thinking, heyyy maybe we can make use of that rather than throwing it away. So we will take all these unwanted parts of greens and fruits to create a palate cleansing course which depending on the week, sometimes the flavor can be different but I guess that’s the charm of this menu.
Bringing Thai Desserts into the Spotlight
When customer taste the dessert, I want them to know that they are in Asia and for some dishes, you will know you are in Thailand. Each dessert is make by an Asian and flavour like Asian.
Honored but humbles to be the 1st Thai to win this award. For me, is gratifying as a pastry chef in Thailand, we sometime get overlooked. If you notice, there isn’t a pastry chef position in a traditional thai kitchen. I mean, Thai food for sure is 1 of the most popular cuisine in the world with the likes of Tom yum, phad thai but no one hardly talks about thai dessert except mango sticky rice. But we actually have a rich culture of dessert so hopefully we will get more recognition for thai sweet and dessert.
If there’s a piece of advice it will be EAT! Not just sweets but explore all cuisine, Let your palate guide you and form your own taste profile and identity.
