Anthony Tam has come a long way since 2016, much of which he spent burning the candle at both ends. By day, he worked a corporate job, and at night and in the early mornings, he made labor-intensive mille crepe cakes for his business, Anton SV Patisserie. Today, his cakes are the star of the show at his first brick-and-mortar location in San Mateo and will soon be available at a second location in Palo Alto.
Tam learned the art of the mille crepe cake – cakes made with at least 20 layers of crepes, sandwiched between layers of creamy fillings – in 2014 from his brother in Malaysia. At the time, he says, “I couldn’t find anything close to what he made” in the Bay Area.
He began refining the family recipe for a California environment. Many of the ingredients in these cakes are sensitive and finicky, and the different humidity levels in Malaysia compared to the Bay Area had to be taken into consideration.
After he hung up his shingle in 2016 — from a commercial kitchen in San Jose — the response was overwhelming. “Looking back,” he says, “I think it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
Slices of the Hokkaido milk and tiramisu mille crepe cakes by Anton SV Patisserie are shown in profile. (Kate Bradshaw/Bay Area News Group)
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His San Mateo location, which offers individual slices ($12 each) as well as cakes, tarts and macarons, opened in October. The second location — inside the Stanford Shopping Center — should open in the next few months.
So far, the patisserie’s hokkaido milk mille crepe cake is a customer favorite, as are the tiramisu, matcha and chocolate varieties. Seasonal flavors have included pandan, mango and tres leches.
Details: Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday at 390 1st Ave., San Mateo; antonsvpatisserie.com. The Stanford Shopping Center location will be located next to the Gap.
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