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Mark Lieuw

@onebakersjourney

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former michelin-starred pastry chef
owner and chocolatier @staysweetsf
san francisco born and raised 🏳️‍🌈
📍san francisco

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STAY SWEET SF 2026 HOLIDAY MENU

I normally wouldn’t post this this early but ya know, everyone is promoting advent calendars already and I might as well put out my lineup this year!

I know many of you know already, WE SHIP NATIONWIDE AND LOCAL PICKUP AVAILABLE.

The holiday menu will start running officially December 5th with the last popup being December 20th.

It’ll be here before you know it! by @onebakersjourney

OCTOBER CHOCOLATE MENU by @onebakersjourney

No matter how many times I double and triple check my schedule there’s always something I dated wrong! LA MAUM is Saturday November 28th!

I am so excited to be bringing my chocolate down to LA and getting to do one of my favorite markets that I’ve done up here in San Francisco!

I may be debuting the holiday flavors sooner than December so stayed tuned and come out and pick up some chocolate!!!

See you all this month!!! by @onebakersjourney

What a year of Ballhalla!!!
#valkyries #ballhalla #gsv #goldenstatevalkyries by @onebakersjourney

Is that @staysweetsf waving the flag in the FIRST EVER WNBA GAME 7???? #Ballhalla #Valkyries #staysweetsf

And for everyone at Ballhalla askin, the custom jacket is by @sowsewstudio by @onebakersjourney

What an incredible honor it was so be invited to the Asian Art Museum Gala to showcase my chocolate in the VIP Premium lounge of the event! Loved seeing everyone’s eyes absolutely light up when trying the chocolate!

Thank you for having me @asianartmuseum I hope to be invited back again in the future! Thank you to @brandonjtam for documenting the evening and @justdlaaaaa for helping me out all evening! by @onebakersjourney

Rising Star Chocolatier Mark Lieuw (@onebakersjourney) graduated with a biology degree before his mom talked him into touring a pastry school, a visit that changed his entire direction. He trained through Eleven Madison Park, The NoMad, Le Bernardin, and The Restaurant at Meadowood before landing back in fine dining at Atelier Crenn under Rising Stars alum Juan Contreras, rising from pastry cook to sous chef. He went on to run dessert programs at Rising Stars alum Alexander Hong's Sorrel and, post-pandemic, at Saison under Rising Stars alum Richard Lee, where he started a small chocolate bar program on the side. After half a year balancing that with pop-ups, Lieuw went out on his own and built a chocolate lab in his parents' garage, now shipping his creations across the country while leaning into his Cantonese heritage, with hopes of eventually opening a brick-and-mortar in Chinatown.⁠
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Visit Stay Sweet SF (@staysweetsf) during the San Francisco #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week (September 30 to October 14) and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio. by @onebakersjourney

Rising Star Chocolatier Mark Lieuw (@onebakersjourney) roasts and grinds black sesame seeds into a praline, folding it with milk chocolate and cocoa butter into a duja layer at Stay Sweet SF (@staysweetsf). He tops the whole thing with more black sesame paste stirred into melted white chocolate and Rice Krispies. The nuttiness runs through every bite without tipping into one-note, cut just enough by a hit of kosher salt at the finish. Lieuw only got a tempering machine last spring, and it's changed what he can put out, multiplying his production tenfold from the days of hand-tempering everything himself.⁠
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Visit Stay Sweet SF during the San Francisco #StarChefsRisingStars Restaurant Week (September 30 to October 14) and help us celebrate! More details via the link in our bio. by @onebakersjourney

I am beyond thrilled and honored to be selected for @starchefs Rising Stars Class of 2026. To be selected in the same class as many of my friends, my former assistant, a former boss, and peers I respect immensely, I cannot find the words to express how much this means to me.

After 12 years of working in fine dining, I always wondered if I would ever be selected. To be honest, it is so much more rewarding to be a Rising Star for my own solo-run business @staysweetsf .

I started Stay Sweet SF in December of 2024 with the goal of creating something different and unique in the San Francisco chocolate scene. I started and continue to operate this little business as a cottage food operation out of a kitchen I built in my parents’ garage. This little fledgling business has grown so very quickly and many opportunities and exciting things are still to come!

Thank you to all my friends, family, supporters, and my amazing customers. Thank you for all you do for me and your continued support of me and Stay Sweet SF! Congrats to my fellow @starchefs Rising Stars class! I can’t wait to celebrate with you all soon! by @onebakersjourney

Chocolatier Mark Lieuw (@onebakersjourney) was pre-med in school before he was ever a chocolatier, studying biology, when his mom suggested he tour a pastry school instead. He built Stay Sweet (@staysweetsf) out of his parents' kitchen after leaving a run of fine dining jobs that left him burnt out, and the salted duck egg yolk dan tat came out of a pile of chocolate molds he'd been staring at, waiting for the right idea. It landed during AAPI Month last year: caramelized white chocolate shaped into a tart shell, filled with white chocolate ganache blended with cured salted duck egg yolk from the Asian supermarket down the street, then grated yolk on top for color. He wanted it to read savory rather than sweet, closer to the dry, funky yolk itself than a custard, a nod to the molten-yolk buns and mooncakes he grew up on. It debuted at an Asian makers and bakers fair at Nisei and sold out fast enough that he knew he'd found something worth keeping on rotation. by @onebakersjourney

july = no work. friends. travels. valkyries. love. great food. memories of a lifetime. by @onebakersjourney