Being able to know what you want to be when you grow up at the young age of 8 is an amazing thing. Because of that early revelation, a strategic plan towards the goal of being a pastry chef was made to ensure that there won’t be a single time wasted in achieving the dream.

Meet Markus Elegino of Markus Patisserie and Bistro. Also known as The Boy Who Bakes. Now at the age of 22, he’s been in the industry for almost 10 years! Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, he did an apprenticeship at the Sheraton Parkway Hotel and at the Sugartiers Cake & Sugar Artistry even before taking his formal training of Culinary & Pastry Art as well as Business Management at George Brown Culinary College of Canada. He, then, went to Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Patisserie (National School of Superior Patisserie) in Lyon, France to study Master Pastry Program for Pastry Art. Now, he owns Markus Patisserie and Bistro at the ground floor of Industria Mall in Circulo Verde, Quezon City where he shares his wonderful pastries to everyone with a sweet tooth.

Markus Patisserie and Bistro’s Markus Elegino

For this week’s Manila Eat Up Insider Edition, we got to ask Markus questions for our 15-item Q&A feature over coffee cupcakes and chocolate truffle cake. Read on.

1. What are your Top 3 vacation destinations in the world? A: My top 3 vacation destinations would be France for their breakfast and pastries, then England for their lunch & afternoon tea, then Korea for their BBQ dinner.

2. If we’re going to give you a plane ticket right now and sponsor an all-expense paid trip, where will you go? A: I would go to Switzerland and then make my way backpacking across Europe eating every kind of dessert to my heart’s content!

3. What’s that one dish that you can eat for the rest of your life? A: The one dish I could eat for the rest of my life would probably be a really well made croissant.

4. What is the one food you will never eat even if given a million pesos? A: Packaged grocery store baked goods!

5. What’s your Happy Meal? A: It always changes but for the moment, it would be a nice proper French Onion Soup and a glass of a Late Harvest Riesling Wine.

6. What’s that one dish you’ve always wanted to try but have been too scared to? A: I’ve always wanted to try blowfish sashimi. It’s just that they say if it’s not prepared properly, it could kill you!

7. If you could have dinner with one famous person (dead or alive), who will it be? A: I’d definitely have dinner with Julia Child because we both share a passion for butter! I could just imagine the food we would have!

8. If the earth will be taken over by a different entity, would you prefer aliens or zombies? A: I’d prefer aliens just because it would be cool to see their technology and I wouldn’t be turned into a living-dead-zombie-eating-brains. If aliens would kill me then I’d peacefully move on to the afterlife. I wonder how brains would taste sautéed in lots of butter! (laughs) I’m totally joking!

9. What is that one unhealthy food that you will not give up? A: I think it’s more like ‘what’s the food that I eat that isn’t made with lots of butter?’ It could be considered unhealthy to a doctor but for me, its healthy for the soul! (laughs) But I love a proper French fries, so maybe that.

10. What’s your most unforgettable meal? A: My most unforgettable meal would be whenever I get together with my whole family and me and my mom would prepare such an amazing display of food!

11. What are your Top 3 desserts? A:  First, anything lemon. I absolutely love Tarte Au Citron or Lemon Cake with berries. Second would be French Macaron. Just got so addicted making them and love the creativity you could do with them. I once incorporated foie gras and it was amazing! Third would be a Currant Scone with clotted cream and raspberry preserve which is more like a tea dessert but I love it!

12. What’s your favorite dessert to make/bake? A: This question is so hard because it changes every time I get presented with new ingredients or something in season. I always try to create new and innovative desserts to make in my patisserie. You’ll notice that we don’t have a permanent dessert showcase because it changes according to what’s new, what’s available, and what’s in season.

13. Dark, white, or milk chocolate? A: If I’m feeling down, I’d prefer eating milk chocolate. If I’m in a really good mood, I’d eat white chocolate. But my go-to chocolate would be 60%-70% dark.

14. What’s the one menu entry that you always order in most restaurants that you go to? A: Eggs Benedict. Even if it’s dinnertime sometimes, I just love having it.

15. If you can have 1 superpower, what would it be? A: I would love to have the ability to copy or clone myself so that I could be in so many places at once and never miss a moment in time!

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