Pinky Chan and Emily Leung are pouring their passion for food into a dream project that will serve up cakes, savouries and beverages to Wharfers as Harbord Square in Canary Wharf buzzes with life
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The customers sipping slickly brewed matcha at Café Seek – following its forthcoming opening – might never know the powdered green tea leaves used to brew their drinks have been painstakingly selected following a field trip to Japan.
But this fact serves as a measure of the effort and attention to detail that founders Pinky Chan and Emily Leung are putting into every aspect of realising their dream project.
Set to open in the coming weeks on the south-eastern corner of Wood Wharf’s 8 Harbord Square, the Japanese bakery promises to be a tranquil haven for local workers, residents and visitors alike.
For Emily and Pinky, the café is the culmination of a passionate journey that’s been years in the making.
“I’m from Hong Kong originally and, while over there, I’d set up a platform for selling organically grown produce online,” said Emily.
“We worked with farmers on small farms to build a bridge between them and consumers.
“I came to London because my husband was moving here, so I closed down the company and moved here in 2021.
“I was quite lost for a while after that and I didn’t know what to do, but it was always my dream to open a cafe or a bakery and then I met Pinky.”
the start of the Café Seek dream
The pair connected at a market at Kingston three years ago where Emily was mostly selling sweet bakes and Pinky was showcasing her Japanese-inspired breads.
“I’m also from Hong Kong, but I came over in 2018 for my masters degree,” said Wood Wharf resident Pinky.
“Then I worked in financial services in London.
“I decided I also really wanted to pursue my passion for baking, so I began to make some Japanese breads after work.
“When I met Emily, we decided we should open a bakery together, so I left the world of finance. It’s a high-pressure environment, although the income is good.
“When I was working in the industry, I kept asking myself why I wanted the money – what was it for?”
The pair quickly began working towards their dream, initially establishing a bakery from their home kitchens and selling goods online.
Pinky said: “We both love Japanese culture – Hong Kong isn’t far from Japan and the chef who first taught me to bake is Japanese.
“At first we did more traditional pastries but that was less popular here.”
Next came the French influence, with Emily and Pinky decamping to Paris for a course in traditional Gallic patisserie.
“I love French techniques – how they combine flavours and textures,” said Pinky.
“The course was very intensive – it was back to school, but the main lesson was to practise.
“We learnt all sorts of techniques, but we found the Japanese flavours are better.”
It’s this fusion that forms the blueprint for Café Seek – fine French patisserie with fillings such as purple sweet potato paste and daifuku.
Offerings include Citrus Early Grey Chocolate Cake, Mango Mochi Coconut Cake, Matcha Opera Cake alongside savoury options such as Japanese Chilli Mayo Sausage Roll and Cheesy Corn Beef Bagel.
building on success in Canary Wharf
“We’re called Café Seek because we want everyone to seek their life – to find themselves,” said Emily, who also lives in east London.
“This is really the main message that we want to share with everyone.
“We’re opening in Canary Wharf because it’s the best option for us – it’s where many of our online customers are from or where they know to travel to.
“People would order from us and come here to pick up their cakes – we had some arrive from places that are quite far away such as Brighton.
“We’re so grateful when customers come all that way for products.”
Pinky added: “Canary Wharf was best for us.
“Half of the space will be our kitchen and bakery and the other half will be for the café.
“We’ll have eight seats for customers and some outside too, with our products all laid out.
“We’ll be serving authentic Japanese teas including the matcha.
“We went to Japan and found small companies to bring their products over and give to our customers to try.
“When you actually go to the places where these teas are grown, you learn more and you can also bring back that knowledge for your customers.
“We did some research before deciding to open in this area and we know there’s a large Asian community here – we’re going to be a part of that.”
In addition to serving customers online and in person, the café will also be offering catering services for parties and businesses locally.
Café Seek’s opening is part of Canary Wharf Group and Tower Hamlets Council’s project to provide affordable spaces for local companies.
Recent openings at Wood Wharf include Reformer Pilates fitness operation The Island Studio, florist The Flower Club, pet groomer Pawsome, nail art salon Awe London, Italian bakery Signorelli and Wayne Hairdresser Salon.
Forthcoming openings include Malaysian restaurant Ong Lai Kopitiam in the very near future as well as Turkish restaurant Nora in the autumn.
key details: Café Seek
Café Seek is set to open its doors at 8 Harbord Square in the coming weeks.
The Japanese bakery will sell a wide range of breads and cakes, baked fresh on the premises.
Follow @cafe.seek on Instagram for live updates.
Find out more about the opening here
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