A master of the wow factor, from flower-shaped piping bag finishes to lifelike trompe-l'oeil faux fruits, Cédric Grolet has shifted the focus to taste in viennoiserie. "There's a time for everything, but in my opinion, this is the pastry trend."
The opinion
Pastry? It's a branch of architecture. Since the time of Antoine Carême, the aesthetics have dictated the rules in desserts. And if there's a pastry chef who has become an original interpreter of this in recent years, it's undoubtedly Cédric Grolet, the creator of marvelous flower-like compositions for Alain Ducasse at Le Meurice.
Opening his own shop, Opéra, in 2019 meant venturing into other dimensions of the culinary arts, particularly viennoiserie, perfecting specialties like pain perdu and baked apples, which certainly don't stand out for their visual appeal. "I think the prestige and influence I enjoy today are obviously due to the visual impact my creations have had for years. It's fantastic, but people who come to me also talk a lot about taste. It's great to be innovative, to make presentations attractive, but you have to work a lot on taste to achieve the maximum aromatic expression," he tells So Good Magazine.
"In my opinion, I'm better at working on taste than the aesthetics of pastry. One of the aspects that helps improve it is, of course, using less sugar, something that is particularly noticeable in tart preparations like lemon cake. It's very tart because I seek the maximum expression of the fruit and the surprise for those who taste it. Beautiful pastries attract customers to the shop, but the delicious ones make them come back. That's where the interest lies. The same thing happens in relationships. If you're attractive, a woman may be attracted once, but if you're a good person, she'll stay by your side."
"When I wake up in the morning, I don't want to take risks. I just want a croissant and coffee. At noon, I want a light dessert with little sugar because I've already eaten, and I don't want to feel weighed down as the day goes on. For a snack, I'm hungry and want something easy and sweet. On the other hand, when I go out to dinner with my girlfriend, I like to impress her. That's why I take her to a gourmet restaurant, and in the end, there's the visual surprise of the dessert. In short, there's a time for everything."
"I'm a classic French pastry chef who loves to use a lot of butter, and I will continue to make my pastries with the same fresh ingredients as always, regardless of trends. In pastry, what has been plentiful so far are pastries with colorful glazes, now I want to focus on other things, simpler but tastier. This is the current trend for me."
