Owner of now-defunct Le Matin Patisserie collaborating with restaurant Air CCCC on new pastry menu

If you have withdrawal symptoms after the much-hyped-about Le Matin Patisserie abruptly shut down its Ion Orchard cafe in February this year, here’s some good news: The patisserie’s chef Mohamed Al-Matin is back.
This time, the former pastry sous chef of Noma in Copenhagen – which was voted the world’s best Restaurant in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 – is collaborating with farm-to-table mod European restaurant Air CCCC for a breakfast initiative called Sunrise. Matin’s pastries will be available every Friday to Sunday, starting Nov 15, from 8am till sold out.  
The nine-month-old Air CCCC at Dempsey Hill is opened by chefs Matthew Orlando (who worked as head chef in Noma for three years), Will Goldfarb (behind the popular Room4Dessert in Bali) and Ronald Akili (founder of Potato Head). The sustainability-focused eatery serves Southeast Asian and European food, often made with produce from their onsite garden. This partnership with Matin is their first foray into serving breakfast – the restaurant previously only opened for lunch and dinner. 
Chef Matin has prepared a new six-item pastry menu at Air (mostly sweet, with only two savoury options). It features a fresh spin on some of his past signatures from Le Matin, including a Gula Apong Kouign Amann (S$6) and Pain Au Chocolat (S$5). The prices are pretty affordable, considering a kouign-amann from the now-defunct Le Matin at Ion used to cost S$7.50. 
Unlike Matin’s original kouign-amann, made with caramelised sugar, the version here is baked with gula apong – a type of palm sugar from Borneo, which the chef says is similar to gula melaka.
Other pastries to look forward to include the savoury Garden Herbs and Charcoal Chicken Sausage Roll (S$11), featuring yakitori-style tsukune with fresh herbs from Air’s garden. The only made-to-order offering here is the Grilled Mushroom XO and Cheese Toastie (S$10), assembled with Air’s mushroom XO butter (mushroom trimmings, butter and spicy XO sauce cooked in-house) between house-made brioche.
Croissants, like the Kenari Nut Twice Baked Croissant (S$7) and Sourdough Croissant (S$4), will also be available. 
What are pastries without coffee? Local brand Maxi Coffee will be on offer here, including a selection of specialty brews, like Ijen CM Pink Honey Coffee, made with fruity beans sourced from East Java.
When asked why he decided to collaborate with Air, Chef Matin replied: “I’ve known chefs Matt and Will for a long time now, and we’ve always talked about doing something together. Now that they both have a Singapore project, and part of Air’s direction is to collaborate and build a community, we’re launching Sunrise together, as part of the upcoming Sunrise-Sunset initiative at their front lawn. This is also the perfect opportunity to bring back Le Matin pastries.”
8days.sg asks Matin about the reason for Le Matin’s closure at Ion Orchard (it has since been taken over by The Assembly Ground Cafe, owned by parent company Benjamin Barker that used to co-own Le Matin), but he declines to elaborate.
“We prefer to focus on the present and future. Our goal remains the same: To bring delicious pastries to the people in Singapore,” he asserts diplomatically. 
He clarifies that while Le Matin’s Ion Orchard cafe is closed, the pastry brand still exists.
While there’s no specific end date for Air CCCC and Chef Matin’s breakfast partnership, Air’s PR representative tells us that there’s no confirmation whether it’ll be a temporary or permanent thing. 
If you’re looking to indulge in Matin’s pastries outside of Air, follow Matin’s Instagram account to keep up with his monthly pop-ups at various restaurants for his new dessert concept Apres, which he launched this month at Japanese hand roll bar Rappu. At this dessert pop-up, Matin serves a 13-course menu from S$148 per person, featuring quirky creations like Bone Marrow Gelato and Poached Lobster with Oats & Blueberries. 
The chef says a December pop-up is also in the works.
Chef Matin’s pastries are available at Air CCCC, 25B Dempsey Road, Singapore 249918. Fri to Sun only, 8am till sold out. Tel: 8228 1528
This story was originally published in 8Days. 
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