In addition to 8.4 million Instagram followers, Cedric Grolet is one of the most well-known pastry chefs.
His following on social media has grown so big that Grolet has hired an employee of social media who is on his business trips to assist in developing content.
He admits to not reading enough of it.
“Of course I am happy with the numbers, but whether it is 800,000, 1.2 [million] or 8.2 [million], there are always positive and negative sides. In fact, I stay away so as to be creative.”
The chef frequently uploads videos of him making his famous cakes and fruit tarts. Photo: Instagram/@cedricgrolet
The majority of his YouTube videos demonstrate the processes involved in making his cakes and fruit tarts and usually end with Grolet making the finished dessert to be served to the customers waiting in front of his Paris Patisserie.
In response to questions about his exponential increase via social media platforms, the entrepreneur replies: “That is not life – and life does not change because of that.”
Despite his meteoric growth in popularity on Instagram, Grolet insists that social media “is not life.” Photo: Instagram/@cedricgrolet
To launch the first time in Asia, the French master of patissier joined forces in partnership with Como Group, created by the entrepreneur of global luxury fashion and hotelier Christina Ong.
A few months earlier, Grolet convinced the fiercely private and media-shy Ong to open champagne flutes alongside Grolet during one of his Instagram videos, which teased the opening of the Singapore pastry shop and his menu.
At the time the two of us meet, Grolet is flying into Singapore after a flight from Paris just the previous night and is casually dressed in a T-shirt as well as cargo pants and Nike trainers, and looks stylish and comfortable.
Many of my works don’t originate from an idea in my head. However, they are born from about 20-30 years of my existence.
Cedric Grolet
After one chef had unrest, Grolet told him how thrilled he was to launch this shop and get a croissant in there. This immediately brought things back to normal.
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He admits to being stressed.
“Every time I open a shop, I get nervous and have this worry that no one will come,” he declares.
A selection of pastries is available from Grolet’s Singapore store. Photo: Cedric Grolet Singapore
Grolet’s Singapore bakery, located near his Orchard Road shopping street, is his fourth global location after his hugely popular Cedric Grolet The Meurice as well as Cedric Grolet Opera in Paris and Cedric Grolet on The Berkeley in London.
On the top level of the luxurious hotel Como Metropolitan Singapore, also called Como Orchard, Cedric Grolet Singapore is 280 square meters (3,000 square feet) and can accommodate 40 guests.
Inside the cozy and warm dining room created for Paola A. Navone of Otto Studios, spherical aluminum lamps are suspended from the ceiling. The guests sit in front of the kitchen, and there is a counter displaying desserts.
The inside of Cedric Grolet’s brand new Singapore branch.
The patisserie will be open for reservations 30 days prior to the date of opening, and all seats for September are booked up by now.
Click-and-collect service (which lets customers buy online and then collect their purchases at a set time) started on the 29th of August.
On the first day by itself, 800 sweets were ordered to be collected.
Cakes are available through Cedric Grolet’s Click-and-Collect service.
A plethora of his Singapore fans have been rushing to the Lychee along with The Dragon Fruit; two never-before-seen trompe-l’oeil wonders Grolet has specially designed for Asia.
Its Dragon Fruit, with its vivid magenta hue and hand-crafted spikes that are scaly, reveals after cutting a layered filling made of dragon fruit gel, fresh passion and dragon fruit, and a light vanilla Ganache.
Other options include the Vanilla Bean pastry, Paris Brest Flower, and an exotic Mango Ginger Flower.
Dragon Fruit Dragon Fruit is an exclusive dessert available at Cedric Grolet Singapore. Cedric Grolet Singapore branch inspired by tropical dragon fruits. Photo: Cedric Grolet Singapore
On the 20th of September, Grolet will also sell mooncakes to commemorate the brand-new Singapore opening.
He tells us about a story about his age, which was six years old. It will explain his fascination with fruit and flowers.
“It was Mother’s Day, and I had nothing to offer to my mother. So she told me that I could go freely to the garden and return with a bouquet of flowers, and that this would always work. The flowers and fruits in my shops tell this story of my life,” he says.
Fresh fruit baskets are available from Cedric Grolet. Grolet claims that his love affair with fruit began as a young child.
“A lot of my creations do not stem from an idea in my mind, but really they came out of 20 or 30 years of my life. These are my roots coming from Auvergne [in central France] and what I care for,” says the pastry chef who has been voted the World’s best Pastry Chef both by Les Grandes Tables du Monde and the World’s 50 Top restaurants.
He uses the Fruits Sculptes series fondly as the “fruit family,” the source of inspiration dates back to 2012, which was the year French chef Alain Ducasse was appointed chef at Paris Le Meurice, a luxury hotel’s fine-dining restaurant. He also gave Grolet the chance to design desserts to accompany his menu.
Ducasse became Grolet’s best partner and mentor and has greatly influenced him throughout his career.
Creative works by Grolet while he was dessert chef in Le Meurice in Paris.
“One of the most important pieces of advice from Mr Alain Ducasse is to remain myself and to be who I am,” Grolet states. “So I stay focused on what I’m good at.”
In the past, the chef has become a popular French pastry with his creative creations that combine exquisite beauty, precision, and precise standards.
“It is no longer just [about] the recipe or execution, but the right butter from Normandy, flour from Auvergne, the heat of the oven,” Grolet says. The focus on particulars extends to a dining experience in his patisseries.
Grolet states that among the top and most important tips offered to him by his mentor and friend Alain Ducasse was to be himself.
“The cup for coffee has to be preheated, the foam [for a cappuccino] has to be self-sustaining on the way to the guest,” he states. “From tableware to knife placement and packaging, or how the guest feels seated here, it’s all about timing.”
Grolet was praised in the past for his creativity in his cakes. However, you can ask him if he considers himself to be a successful person, and he shrugs. “I am first and foremost proud of the fact that I am a happy person, above all else,” Grolet says.
“I am happy because of many small things in life, such as seeing and making people happy. I enjoy spending time with people I love and trust, such as my family and close friends.”
Breakfast options from Cedric Grolet Singapore.
Grolet insists that his father taught him the importance of paying attention to things, and this has helped him to make a difference in all he does.
“They told me to work hard if I wanted to succeed. They taught me manners, how to respect others and to value relationships.”
He claims he views his work as his whole life, and the way he creates the pastries he bakes on a daily basis is by actively looking for the things that make him feel happy every day and then doing these things.