Former MasterChef contestant Brendan Pang has made the gut-wrenching decision to close down his beloved dumplings hotspot.
Pang featured on season 10 of MasterChef at the age of 24 and quickly became known for whipping up tasty dumplings for the judges.
After leaving the hit cooking show five years ago, he opened his dumpling pop-up restaurant, Bumplings, in Fremantle.
However, after serving up more than one million dumplings since 2019, the chef has decided to call time on his beloved venue.
He said he hasn’t been putting 100 per cent of his time into the restaurant, caught up with living between countries and content creation.
Pang broke the news to his 427,000 Instagram followers on Wednesday with a heartfelt post.
“Closing Bumplings has been a really tough call to make. But I realised that I’ve been spreading myself too thin… juggling being a cooking content creator and author. If I’m going commit to something, I want to give it 100 per cent, and, unfortunately, I can’t give Bumplings that right now,” he wrote.
“Right now, I’m living between Perth and Taipei, from where I’m continuing to travel through Asia, documenting and sharing my love of the food here with you all.”
He also thanked the people of Freo and those who “flew in from around the world to visit Bumplings”.
“Your support has meant the world to me. But none of it would have been possible without my incredible team and family,” he wrote.
“It’s been a wild ride, bringing our food to everything from private dinner parties and weddings to pop-ups on Rottnest Island.”
The Riverton-raised foodie began an architecture degree after high school but soon switched to study social work instead.
In 2016, he graduated from Curtin University with his Bachelor’s degree and, within months, moved to Broome, working in child protection.
Pang has always loved cooking and being creative in the kitchen. Now, he can finally fulfil his dream of “opening his own café.”
For a final send-off, fans can join Pang for a last bite at Bumplings on May 12.