Second Floor Lab Gelato: Homegrown ice-cream cafe specialising in creative gelato flavours

For some of us, an ice-cream shop is merely a pitstop for us to get our dessert fix. 

Not for the founders of homegrown dessert parlour Second Floor Lab Gelato, though.

Fiona Tan, 31, and Lim Wei Qiang, 38 — a husband-wife duo — have only the fondest memories of ice-cream cafes. With a deep, shared love for all things related to pastry and baking, the sweet-toothed couple often frequented them on dates — Tom’s Palette in particular.

They would catch up on their day, plan their future and celebrate key milestones together — all over a cup of gelato. 

Fiona and Wei Qiang — both former pastry chefs who cut their teeth working at the then-Regent Singapore — were thus inspired to start a gelato business that they could call their own. 

“There’s so much happiness in owning an ice-cream shop,” Fiona says, smiling. “You can see the kids grow up, have their own families and then bring their children here.”

I can agree with that — to me, ice-cream cafes are happy places where I have plenty of cherished childhood memories.

Growing up, it’s where my parents would take me whenever I was craving a sweet dessert, and I recall the excitement of being able to pick out my own ice-cream flavours and toppings. 

Even now, I’ll never forget the unadulterated happiness that filled my heart with each bite, and I still look back fondly on those halcyon days with my family.

Fiona and Wei Qiang intend to recreate that same nostalgia at Second Floor Lab Gelato. 

They also hope to set Second Floor Lab Gelato apart with an intriguing gelato menu, which comprises unorthodox flavour pairings — including Vegemite mixed with caramel — so each creation is infused with a surprise. 

When asked why they’ve decided to go all-in on the unconventional, the pair attribute it to their past experience in the kitchen, where they’d previously worked with an assortment of ingredients and recipes. 

Experimenting with different ingredients 

Besides working at various hotels, Fiona also honed her pastry-making chops at the now-defunct Wimbly Lu cafe and Michelin-starred Cloudstreet, where she trained under chef Maira Yeo, who was crowned Asia’s Best Pastry Chef in 2022. 

Under Maira’s mentorship at Cloudstreet, Fiona began to toy with different flavour combinations besides the usual sweet and fruity.

“I thought: ‘Why is it always the same flavours, such as strawberry and mango?’,” Fiona muses. “Why can’t I use vegetables?”

“There’s so much more you can do with dessert flavours and we’ve only just scratched the surface,” she adds. “I wanted to understand what makes up an ingredient, its flavour profile, and how I can extract it in a way that makes sense.”

Meanwhile, Wei Qiang has worn many hats in his culinary career. 

In 2022, he was an R&D chef at sustainability enterprise WellSpent under the At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy. There, he tinkled with upcycled materials, repurposing discarded ingredients into innovative food products. 

One such example is moromi — a fermented, umami-rich seasoning used in Japanese dishes — that’s a byproduct of leftover soy sauce. 

“There’s a lot you can do with upcycled ingredients,” he says. “You can change its texture, or tweak it into a different creation completely.”

That’s why the sky is the limit when brainstorming new flavour pairings. 

“We realised that certain savoury ingredients could pair well with sweets,” adds Wei Qiang. “We thought it would be a good opportunity to experiment with different flavours.”

A dream come true 

In 2023, Fiona and Wei Qiang’s dream to own an ice-cream cafe — a cosy, welcoming space that would host patrons celebrating milestones and joyous moments of their own — finally came true. 

The brand has also come a long way. Before it was an ice-cream shop, Second Floor Lab Gelato began as a small, home-based bakery that operated out of Fiona and Wei Qiang’s home.

Initially a home-based bakery

Founded in 2021, it was named Second Floor Lab (because the couple lived on the second floor of a HDB flat) and specialised in festive pastries, such as pineapple tarts and cookies, and cake customisations.

It began as a side hustle during the holiday season, but when the couple got married and collected the keys to their Build-To-Order flat, they set their eyes on Second Floor Lab becoming something more.

“We wanted to create a brand,” Wei Qiang recalls. “We wanted to cater to our friends and families whenever they have birthdays and parties.” 

“I told Wei Qiang that I wanted an air-conditioned room with baking equipment. So, we adjusted our renovation plans to include a ‘lab’ in the house,” quips Fiona, laughing.

A sweet opportunity

After two years of operating as a home-based bakery, the time finally came for the pair to transit into a brick-and-mortar store. 

“My ex-bosses at Wimbly Lu wanted to retire and travel the world,” says Fiona. “They knew that I wanted to set up my own business, and were very kind to offer me some equipment at a nice price.” 

With a bigger space, they could include gelato on the menu and cater to a higher volume of customers.

It would be a homely gelato shop — an ode to their favourite date spot.

Inspiration for the menu

As you can probably tell from Second Floor Lab Gelato’s menu, Fiona and Wei Qiang take pride in their gelato flavours, which are inspired by their frequent trips to Melbourne. 

“We love going there because there are a lot of cafes and gelato shops,” Wei Qiang says with a grin. “We’ll also visit the farmers’ markets, bring different ingredients back to Singapore, and see which works with ice cream.”

Fiona swears by Gelato Messina — one of their favourite spots to visit in Melbourne. It serves more than 40 tantalising gelato flavours that are made from scratch, as well as other pastries. 

“We’d always order triple-scoops when we’re there,” she says. “The quality is always good no matter which outlet we visit.”  

The pair savour as many gelato flavours as they can while overseas, and pen down any interesting creations that they come across. Then, when they’re back home, they’d attempt to recreate a similar flavour, spruced up with a twist. 

Second Floor Lab Gelato also switches up three of its 12 available flavours every month so there’s something new to try, each time its regulars come by.

Bestselling flavours

Second Floor Lab Gelato’s menu is peppered with a few seemingly outlandish flavours — there’s a carbonara, chilli and cashew, and pesto — so those stopping by for the first time may, understandably, find it daunting.

But if we could recommend a flavour, it’d be the Vegemite caramel, which is one of the brand’s signature creations. 

“It’s just like salted caramel,” assures Fiona. “We replaced the salt with Vegemite, which is also a salt agent.” 

She’s right — the gelato is creamy and smooth, with rich caramel-ly notes. When we tried it, the Vegemite wasn’t overpowering at all, and was light with a mild salty-savoury undertone.

Another delicious flavour on Second Floor Lab Gelato’s menu is the mascarpone and fig, a tried-and-true, well-loved pairing in desserts, but not as common in ice cream. 

It touts luscious mascarpone gelato infused with a light, milky fragrance. Caramelised figs are also added to the mix for extra sweetness and bite.

All these flavours are considered premium ones and go for S$5.80 per scoop, while more conventional flavours go for S$4.80.

Of the latter, we imagine the PB and J will be a hit among kids. It has decadent swirls of creamy, nutty butter mixed in with slightly tangy, not-too-sweet fruit jelly bits.

Sweeter things ahead

While ice-cream shops are a dime a dozen in Singapore, Second Floor Lab Gelato has put itself on our radar for having some of the most creative gelato flavours we’ve seen so far. 

The pair also offer other decadent desserts on the menu, all of which provide a good base for you to enjoy all the ice cream you desire.

There’s a tart and crispy apple crumble (S$7.50) and a fluffy plain waffle (S$6), both of which would be incomplete without a hefty scoop to go with it.

“We want to bring joy and happiness to every customer that walks in,” Wei Qiang says, wistfully. “We hope that they can try the creative flavours that we’ve experienced overseas.”

While Fiona and Wei Qiang have no current plans to expand the brand, the pair are optimistic about the road ahead.

They intend to continue introducing new and innovative flavours to the menu, in hopes of creating a tasty, unforgettable dining experience for their customers. 

For more eats in Singapore, check out home-based bakery Hone Bakes and Butter Town with its Japanese-inspired shio pan rolls. Alternatively, check out the newest openings in Singapore here. 

Enjoy up to 50% off when you dine with GrabFood Dine Out.

You can also book a ride to Second Floor Lab Gelato to try its creative gelato flavours.