Bangkok-based Pastry Pro Dej Kewkacha’s Bold Confections Blend French, Thai and Japanese Influences
The self-taught pastry chef who started with $2 ice creams and now produces designer desserts is about to reinvent Thai rice-based sweet treats as part of his evolving culinary journey.
10 August 2025
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Photo Credit: Dej Kewkacha
It’s an irony not lost on Asia’s Best Pastry Chef 2025 that when he started his culinary journey, he could barely boil an egg, let alone create award-winning desserts.
Entirely self-taught, Dej Kewkacha’s sweet skills have led him to worldwide acclaim and a current collaboration with Bangkok’s chef sensation Gaggan and international design icon Louis Vuitton.
After two decades in the business, which began selling $2 ice creams, he feels that it’s only now that he’s being taken seriously. As a 19-year-old at university, he was expected to join the Thai-based family tourism business but instead decided that the kitchen was his calling.
“I was studying in Oxford for my Master’s. My roommate was a pastry chef working at the Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons for Raymond Blanc. So, I started to have an interest.”
Photo Credit: Dej Kewkacha
Although he had no culinary experience, Dej has always had a passion for food. “I think it comes from being part of a family that loves eating. My father only spends money on eating! My parents trained me from a young age to enjoy good food, good cooking, and understand good ingredients.”
Travelling opened his eyes to different flavours. “I find it interesting that people enjoy my desserts, especially when there are combinations that they don’t think would go well together.”
He liked the possibility of patisserie as opposed to the savoury side of the kitchen. “I don’t have a sweet tooth, but I don’t like to touch meat or fish!”
Photo Credit: Dej Kewkacha
“Pastries and desserts typically start with ingredients like eggs or flour but can evolve into thousands of different products. The potential is limitless, to be honest. But rice is rice, one-dimensional.”
The first brand he started in Bangkok was called Sfree. Everything in the shop was sugar-free, but the concept proved too modern for the time. “That was 22 years ago. It was a bit too early a trend for Thailand, to be honest.”
Next came a string of Japanese dessert cafes in the Thai capital: Kyo Roll En, with some 50 outlets at its peak. “Nobody knew 18 years ago that you could eat bamboo charcoal cake, now it’s everywhere. I’ve been going to Japan for holidays for years, so we are very familiar with the culture. So that’s why we started with Japanese dessert cafes.”
He then honed his skills at Kyo, a dessert bar, where he experimented with combinations like chocolate and miso.
Confections at Kyo Roll En | Photo Credit: Dej Kwekacha
“I am passionate about fashion, design, and architecture. When Louis Vuitton contacted me, it felt right because they were looking for something accessible to all Thais but still had the finesse of Louis Vuitton. When such a big brand comes, you don’t say no to them!”
“At Gaggan at Louis Vuitton, it’s more about Thai ingredients than Japanese, but they utilise a variety of techniques and sauces. That’s very French, but I’m comfortable with that. In Japan, they also use a lot of techniques from Europe.”
At Gaggan at Louis Vuitton, Dej crafts confections that spotlight Thai ingredients | Photo Credit: Dej Kewkacha
In August, Dej will open his first Thai dessert shop, Kao Nong Pao, in Bangkok. (Kao means rice, and nong means meal.) “It’s kind of a full circle. I’m back to where I started. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with various Thai desserts. I’ll be using all my techniques and experience but using Thai ingredients and recreating Thai desserts.”
“A lot of things are made from rice. We aim to recreate traditional Thai desserts in a modern style. To give awareness to people outside Thailand that Thai food is more than just mango sticky rice and pad Thai. I want to show people that we can use rice to make fine desserts. It’s a personal challenge for me.”
Perhaps rice is not that one-dimensional in flavour, after all.
Photo Credit: Dej Kewkacha
Author: Alison Marshall
Alison Marshall is a seasoned journalist, writer, and editor with over 30 years of experience in print and digital media across global markets covering sectors from hospitality to finance. A Brit by birth she has lived in Singapore since 2008, a country which continues to fascinate. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and cocktails and loves a local market wherever she travels.
