Mark Lieuw
Stay Sweet SF | San Francisco, CA
September 2026
Mark Lieuw graduated with a biology degree but his mother encouraged him to attend pastry school at Le Cordon Bleu after taking a tour together. While in school, Lieuw worked at Coqueta and staged at Atelier Crenn on his days off. He then externed at Eleven Madison Park on Rising Stars alum Angela Pinkerton's pastry team which shaped his early development. Lieuw moved on to The NoMad and learned foundations in pastry production and plating desserts. Mark then joined Le Bernardin's team to learn under Chef Thomas Raquel.
Lieuw returned to the Bay Area to be closer to family and accepted a job at Rising Stars alum Christopher Kostow's The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley for his first and only savory position. In 2016, Lieuw worked at Alexander's Patisserie, where he was exposed to chocolate, viennoiserie, and macaron production. When a position opened up at Atelier Crenn, Lieuw jumped at the opportunity to return to fine dining and to work with Rising Stars alum Juan Contreras again. During his time at Crenn, he rose from pastry cook to sous chef. In 2020, he took over the dessert program at Rising Star Alexander Hong's Sorrel, where he honed his plating style and versatility. Post pandemic, he joined the team at Saison and worked under Rising Stars alum Richard Lee, where he learned open-fire cooking and started a small chocolate bar program.
After half a year of working full time and doing pop-ups, Lieuw went out on his own and built a chocolate lab in his parents' garage. Since then, he's been doing pop-ups and events locally while sending his chocolate products all around the country under the name Stay Sweet SF. Lieuw highlights his Cantonese heritage and San Francisco upbringing in his creations and has plans to one day open a brick-and-mortar in Chinatown.
2026 StarChefs San Francisco-Oakland Rising Stars Award Winner
