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Cédric Grolet, the world’s best pastry chef, has arrived at The Berkeley. By Dipal Acharya

édric Grolet is no stranger to hype. e 36-year-old French master pâtissier has won a string of accolades – not least Meilleur Chef Pâtissier 2016 and Best Pastry Chef at e World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018. So it’s hardly a surprise that e Berkeley, where Grolet has opened his rst patisserie outside Paris, is today a hive of activity. Journalists, critics and friends have all gathered eager to see what the acclaimed pâtissier has brought to the capital. e patisserie’s interior, the work of designer, Rémi Tessier, has the feel of a high-end pastry ‘lab’, with polished stainless steel, white stone and a gold-leaf gilded ceiling. e walls feature carved owers and lemons, representing Grolet’s fruit and ower creations, and the scallop oor tiles mirror the apple slices of the ‘tarte aux pommes’ he enjoyed as a child. Surrounded by cosy banquettes and low lighting, this chic spot is now home to two ‘Cédric Grolet moments’ – petit déjeuner and goûter, the long-standing French ritual of sweet snacking. At the heart of it all sits a gilded chef’s counter where customers will be able to enjoy his creations. Here, Grolet seems in his element, neatly turned out in a crisp shirt, perfectly frayed black jeans and box-fresh Stan Smiths.

It’s Grolet’s precision and focus on the tiniest of details – the provenance of ingredients, the plates they are served on – which elevates the humble pastry to something altogether more re ned. Indeed the mimesis of his famous (and oft-Instagrammed) trompe-l’oeil fruit has drawn comparisons to great seventeenth-

century Dutch still-life paintings. While a simple vanilla tart is transformed by delicately layering biscuit with ne ribbons of vanilla praline and con ture de lait, topped by a camellia-shaped vanilla C mousse. ‘It’s the ingredients that shine, it’s the simplicity of it.’ He’s certainly got Londoners excited. Opening morning sees queues snaking around Knightsbridge, opposite leafy Hyde Park, with locals eager to grab a freshly made pastry (made with a strict ‘once they’re gone, they’re gone!’ policy). Here, Grolet’s fruits and ower cakes will be sold together for the rst time – showstoppers include the Noisette and the Citron – alongside an exclusive treat for Londoners: a signature trompe-l’œil, a clever illusion of the scone – his favourite British cake – serving as a tribute to Britain For those who want to make an afternoon of it (and why not?) Grolet o ers an

‘I’ve learnt not to play around with the raspberry’

Diners at the counter can expect five sweet and two savoury tastings, with champagne

exclusive dining experience inside the lab. Sat around a counter, guests will be treated to a menu of signature tastings – five sweet and two savoury – served with champagne, as they watch the team of chefs make finishing touches to their fantastic gastronomical creations.

So how does a master pâtissier with no less than 2.2m followers on Instagram keep things fresh? Apparently, it’s all about the seasonal ‘Moodboarding’ and trusting his instinct. ‘My team have trouble following what I’m doing. It has nothing to do with ego. It’s a feeling, it’s an emotion.’

His biggest source of inspiration is his own childhood growing up near Firminy, in the Loire region. Much like the Proustian madeleine Grolet’s trompe-l’oeil creations are an homage to his mother Chantal and the fruit she would pick from the garden and pack into his bag as a schoolboy: ‘Vegetables, fruit, flowers, it all [came] from the garden. There was no McDonald’s – I had my first McDonald’s at 18!’ Grolet was not academic but soon found his feet in the kitchen. ‘I wasn’t very talented at school but making things with my hands was easy for me’. He went to intern at a local boulangerie at 14 and unsurprisingly, given what we know now, was something of a boy wonder. ‘I remember the head of the boulangerie calling my parents. I thought I was in serious trouble. But he had called them to explain that I had a real talent, and it was something to be nurtured.’

What followed was an education in the fundamentals of baking and patisserie. He lived by the advice he now gives to young pâtissiers: ‘Take the time to really do things well. Don’t jump stages. [It’s like] the construction of a building – never start with

To paraphrase Coco Chanel: a copy is never the same. You can never have a true imitation the roof. ’ He left for Paris at 21 and after working at Fauchon, the renowned French gourmet grocer, ended up in the kitchen of Le Meurice. He was named executive pastry chef just shy of his 30th birthday. Numerous accolades and two standalone sites (in Paris’s Place Vendôme and Opéra) soon followed, as well a visually sumptuous cookbook, Fruit: The Art of Pastry. With such a meteoric rise, I wonder if he still has anything to master? ‘The raspberry!’ he laughs. ‘I’ve been trying to perfect this for ten years but a raspberry, when you pick it up, it’s already bruised. In terms of structure, it’s 90% water; when I try to create it as a trompe-l’oeil it’s almost impossible, because it just breaks. I made the trompe-l’oeil, but it’s just not good and tastes much better in a tart. I’ve learnt not to play around with the raspberry.’ Instagram gives Grolet’s fans a glimpse into his latest experimentations and helps him to grow his brand globally: ‘It allows me to have direct access to my customers, it explains new creations, new menus.’

However, such social media exposure can be a double-edged sword, especially when it comes to copycats. ‘At first I would take it really badly. Especially when people said, “This is my new creation,” and it was 100% my work. To paraphrase Coco Chanel, a copy is never the same. You can never have a true imitation. Grolet is clearly at the most industrious phase of his career but he applies the same fervour to his downtime. He’s recently taken up snowboarding as a hobby. ‘After three days, I broke my wrist and needed 17 stitches. With snowboarding, I would wake up early and I wouldn’t stop. I wouldn’t eat, I wouldn’t drink, I would just keep doing it until I got better and better.’ I joke that it’s not a dissimilar approach he takes in the kitchen. ‘Absolument. It’s the only way for me to get to where I am.’ M Cédric Grolet at The Berkeley is open seven days a week 10am-7pm. Pastries from £5 to take away; eat-in menu from £20; cakes to order (48 hours’ notice) from £35.