Hello! 안녕하세요! Ahoj!
It’s lovely to meet you ♡
I’m Sarang, pronounced “sa-lang” in Korean, but “sa-wrong” can pass for those who can’t roll their r’s! As I like to express to some, I am multicultural being - mixed with Korean and Czech heritage. Born in Arizona, but raised Texan, I grew up majority of my life in Seguin, Texas, a small town outside of San Antonio. For the last 8 years, I have called this wonderful city, Houston, my home - GO ‘STROS!
As we grow older, we gain our own thoughts about ourselves and who we are as individuals living on our own, finding a career that fits us. A few years into living on my own and struggling with the correct pastry chef path (hotels versus restaurants versus bakeries), I randomly began wondering “why did they name me Love?” After a few moments of reflection, I found that my passion for pastry and pursuance of my desires might encompass my parents idea of who I was to them, and how to live by the thought of what love truly means. When the time came to my passions I immediately stuck with what I was most loved doing - creating sweet treats and sharing moments with others, regardless of the specific types of chefs.
Besides my curiosity of love, I just want to say thank you for coming to visit my company and learning a little about me. If it’s finding out who I am, what I do, or why I wanted my own company, sharing a part of me is what I enjoy when others are interested in my story.
“Becoming a pastry chef was compelling”
Throughout my younger years, I enjoyed making cobblers and anything sweet for my family and friends. I loved listening to my parents’ stories from living overseas; my mother would tell me all about her childhood growing up in Korea, and father’s would be all about his experience with locals during his military travels. Having grown up in a military family and hearing every family member’s experiences, these stories inspired my wish to do my own travels. It was only until high school, that I decided to pursue pastry as my full-time career, but by traveling on my own.
Inspired by my parents, I moved out to Houston, Texas in 2016 to begin my pastry chef journey, attending Culinary Institute LeNotre, earning my Associates in Baking and Pastry Arts in 2018. Prior to graduation, I staged at Sofitel's Resort & Spa in Porticcio, Corsica, France, working under Chefs Vito Alessi and Alexia. Upon arrival back to the States, I landed my first pastry cook position in Houston that following January.
I grew up wondering what the chef world is like…
I experienced so much for what this world encompasses - it’s strenuous, yet invigorating. From meeting a variety of chefs at different parts of the world, to learning different sets of mastery…
My only wish now is to serve as a chef whose purpose is to shed light and fight the stigmas behind the chef industry… to inspirit culinary culture, strength, a greater soundness of mind.
Always Striving for MORE!
In pursuit of higher education during COVID of 2020, I acquired my Bachelors in Baking and Pastry Food-Service Management from Johnson & Wales University, in which I was inspired mostly by JWU's hospitality professors and their corporate studies. Between leaving the hotel/resort industry and entering a restaurant development period during the summer of 2022, I spent time freelancing and learning from five various pastry chefs in Seoul and Daejeon, South Korea as part of my own "Korean pastry study", while also spending time with my mother's family.
As I have cultivated multiple parts of the chef industry within the pastry realm and have been gifted with those experiences thus far, I give my biggest thanks to all the chefs I have worked under for teaching and pushing me to my highest potential… and I thank myself for never giving up during those tough moments.
Specialties + Accolades
I primarily specialize in plated desserts, though I also work on a wide range of the pastry spectrum, including party/wedding cakes, various pop-up collaborations, catering events, and even fun projects like sculptures, and mass production ice creams and sorbets.
I find competitions as this sort of “freedom” feeling of exploration, where one can showcase their experience and skillset, all-in-one package, while also coming home with more knowledge from top chefs. Having participated in Les Verges Boiron's plated dessert competitions, I have attained 2nd place in 2021 with my "Cherry Bubble Bar", and 1st place in 2022 with my "Jokduri", a dessert inspired by a Korean traditional bonnet.
In May of 2024, I was selected as one of the top 10 pastry chefs in the nation, in the plated desserts category, to compete in the inaugural National Pastry Conference and Competition held in North Carolina.
