Chef John Robin Pecson never dreamt of becoming a pastry chef.

When he was a child, he was interested in the arts, it’s true, and he loved drawing and building things. But that was it. When it came time to pick a college course, he even chose to enroll in Nursing. But then his true calling started manifesting.

He shifted to Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM), got into baking classes, loved them, met an inspiring young pastry chef named Edward David Mateo, who was his instructor at Centro Escolar University (CEU), and realized his true calling. So sure was he that he wanted pastry arts to be his career path that he applied for apprenticeship with Chef Edward when he was in second year college. The amiable chef must have seen tremendous potential in him, for he accepted the challenge of mentoring Robin and hired him even when he was still in school.

For this rare opportunity given him, Pecson responded with hard work and dedication to the job, managing his time and effort between work and studies so well that he later on became Chef Edward’s assistant general pastry maker.

Bigger opportunities opened for Chef Robin from there, and after two years with Chef Edward under the latter’s La Royale Patisserie, Chef Robin decided to work abroad and left for Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where he worked as general pastry maker and cake decorator at La Perla Dolce.

In November of 2018, which was three years after his productive stint in Saudi Arabia, Chef Robin returned home to Manila, but only to apply for work in a cruise ship. Royal Caribbean Cruises hired him and he sailed on board Radiance of the Seas. He made delicious pastries for passengers of the luxury liner as a Commis I Pastry Chef and enjoyed the experience as much as he learned a lot from this part of his career journey.

But then the pandemic happened. Luxury cruises took a backseat for the safety and protection of everyone, and Chef Robin had to come home to Manila while the world reeled from the serious health threat brought about by the Covid virus and the uncertainty of the future. No one knew how long the pandemic would remain, but life had to go on.

“My wife (Paula Patricia Pecson) and I needed a source of income that would let us work from our home in Quezon City. So we decided to start a home-based business, offering custom-made cakes and other pastries because that was what we were good at. That’s also the business I longed to have since I graduated. So given the chance to do so, we put up RobinsCakeMnl even with very limited capital,” Chef Robin shared.

RobinsCakeMnl accepted online orders for customized cakes, both fondant and buttercream types, for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and almost all imaginable occasions during the pandemic. They also offered various pastries, such as cupcakes, cookies, cream puffs, cake balls, cake pops, cakesickles, ensaymadas, banana loaves, chocolate bars and other specialty cakes such as cheesecakes, chocolate mousse cakes and L’Opera cakes. Business turned out to be so good that even when the pandemic let up and was eventually “lifted,” Chef Robin decided to stick to RobinsCakeMnl and not resume his career as a seafarer.

So much has happened since then. In recent years, Chef Robin has added different dimensions to his career as a pastry chef. His online business allows him to get creative, offering such specialties as Lotus Biscoff Cake, Ube Cheese Ensaymada, Dark Chocolate Revel Bars, Chocolate Banana Walnut Loaf and Biscoff Cupcakes.

In 2025, he tried his hand at joining competitions, specifically Cake Fiesta Manila’s Cake Display Competition, Wedding Cake Category, and won Highest Gold (First Place) on his first try. To validate this mean feat, Chef Robin joined competitions again at Cake Fiesta Manila 2026, which took place just last February, and won as Cake Artist of the Year overall Champion and Highest Gold Award for the Wedding Cake Category. This year’s competitions were once again judged by internationally known professional chefs.

And his latest conquest — he is now a culinary educator, having been offered by CEU, his alma mater, to teach. Since August 2025, when he graciously accepted the offer, he has been handling Baking 101, International Pastry in Cruise and French Cuisine classes for two semesters now.

So, let me introduce a rising star in the world of pastry arts — Chef John Robin Pecson.