I hope you've seen my Instagram posts @MarthaStewart48. I just returned from a trip to Paris to attend the Hermès Spring Show 2024. During my brief visit to the French capital, I stopped in at the world famous bakery and café, Cédric Grolet: Opéra - not once, but twice!
Cédric Grolet is a leading French pastry chef and the executive pastry chef at Le Meurice, in Paris, part of the Dorchester Collection. He operates two of his own patisseries in the city including one inside Le Meurice, and Opéra, on the avenue de l'Opéra, which he opened in 2019. Cédric opened a third shop in London in 2022, and recently a fourth in Singapore. His pastries focus on fruits, and his unique interpretation of traditional French desserts. I tasted some of his popular creations including a Fleur Vanille, a Fleur Paris Brest Pécan, his signature nut cookies, and of course, his delectable croissants.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This is the front of Opéra at 35 avenue de l’Opéra, where long lines of pastry-loving customers wait for hours to taste the sweet creations.
The famed Avenue de l’Opéra was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. It is located in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris, until the opening of the Opéra Bastille in 1989. Here is a look down the avenue with a view toward the Opéra.
Here I am with the master patissier, Cédric Grolet, who first found his passion for cooking and baking when he was 11 working in the kitchen of his grandparents’ hotel in Andrézieux-Bouthéon, in the Loire Valley. Cédric entered pastry school at 14. At 21, he went to work at the renowned Fauchon and now, less than two decades later, he owns four of his own establishments.
Opéra is an elegant café and bakery. It is simply furnished and impeccably clean.
Upstairs, a number of grey bistro tables and chairs offer guests a place to dine.
Mirrors on the ceiling allow one to see behind the counter, where many of Cédric’s creations are prepared.
Here is a tray of Cédric’s signature nut cookies – peanut butter cookies topped with a variety of nuts such as hazelnuts, also known as filberts, almonds, and pistachios. These cookies are about six-inches across – big enough to share, if one so desires.
This is a Fleur Vanille, a sweet pastry with vanilla crisp, vanilla milk jam, vanilla dacquoise, and Madagascar vanilla ganache.
And this is called Fleur Paris Brest Pécan, a crispy sweet pastry with crunchy pecan, pecan praline, pecan gianduja, Paris Brest pecan cream, and soft choux pastry. This is Cédric’s rendition of the well-known dessert. Traditionally, the Paris Brest is made in a circular shape with a hole in the middle, as in a bicycle wheel. The name Paris Brest came from a bicycle race in Paris to the city of Brest and back.
These breads resemble small boules, or “balls” of bread.
Some of them were covered with seasonings similar to those on an “everything bagel” here in the US – poppy seeds, toasted sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and salt.
And the tart shells are just the way I like them – dark and fully baked.
Each one of these is perfectly browned.
And here are two of his larger tart shells – also dark in color. Cèdric uses a blind baking, or pre-baking, method for his shells to ensure the shells are finished to perfection.
Inside the kitchen, Cédric’s team works efficiently to make all the pastries and other confections. He says by the time the doors open, the pastries are already made.
Here, a giant commercial immersion blender is used to mix a batter.
Even the waffles are shaped like flowers. The edges are cut using scissors.
These waffles were delicious – crunchy exteriors with a warm dough filling and served with crème Chantilly – a cream sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla.
This was a refreshing coffee essence drink with coconut water and one large ice cube.
And here is Cédric’s famous flaky croissant – baked to golden perfection.
All finished with a cup of delicious café crème. If you’re ever in Paris, I hope you have some time to go to Cedric Grolet: Opéra. It is definitely worth the trip. In my next blog, I will share more photos of my Paris excursion and the Hermès Spring Show 24.
To stay organized during seasonal transitions here at my Bedford, New York farm, we follow a schedule of tasks from one year to the next.
Several times a week, I tour the entire farm and create very detailed lists of all that needs to be done. Maintaining such a large property is a huge responsibility and a tremendous amount of work. In order for it to thrive, animals and gardens need constant tender loving care. My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew have many projects including pruning and trimming the trees and shrubs, weeding and tilling the beds, planting new specimens, washing the hoop houses, cleaning the gutters, and so much more.
Enjoy these photos…
Some of you know, my Cantitoe Corners Farm sits on 153-acres. It’s a large property filled with developing gardens, groves and allées. This is my long and winding pergola. It runs from my flower cutting garden all the way to my espalier of Gravenstein apples. On the left is a stand of stately bald cypress trees. This area and so many others around the property are constantly being groomed. There is a lot to do to keep the farm looking its best, especially between seasons.
Every day, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are working hard to keep on top of all the maintenance of the beds. Everyone loves my Martha Stewart 48 gallon Multi-Purpose Re-Usable Heavy Duty Garden Tote Bags. They’re available on my Amazon shop. These totes hold hundreds of pounds and can be used for the garden debris and pulled weeds or inside the home for storage.
Here’s Ryan tending the lily and hosta garden beds outside my main greenhouse.
On one side, Ryan also trims the Cotinus trees. Smoke bushes, Cotinus, are among my favorite of small trees – they have superlative color, appealing form, and look excellent in the gardens. Cotinus is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs.
Remember my former vegetable garden? Now that we created my new half-acre vegetable garden closer to my home, I designated this area for pumpkins and corn this summer. Everything has been harvested, so it’s time to clean up the area and rototill it before the cold season.
Here’s Jimmy removing all the old, dead plants and root systems.
All the debris is then loaded onto the dump truck and taken to the compost yard.
And then Chhiring comes in with our Troy-Bilt Pony Rear-Tine Tiller. The purpose of tilling is to mix organic matter into the soil, help control weeds, break up crusted soil, and loosen the earth for the next planting. One doesn’t need to till or break up the soil very deep – less than a foot is fine.
This is the garden all done – and ready to rest for the season.
Nearby, Fernando cleans the hoop house. This structure holds my tropical plant collection during the winter. I have four hoop houses here at the farm. They are constructed from steel frames and these polyethylene panels.
Fernando also touches up any areas of the base that need paint.
Up the carriage road in my herbaceous peony bed, all the peonies are now cut down to the ground and Pasang is weeding around them.
Here he rakes the beds after they are weeded. These peonies have done so magnificently over the years. The plants are thriving and continue to grow wonderfully. I plan to remove every other peony and move it to another space – I’ll be sure to show you how we do this process.
Here is the peony bed completed – so clean and clear.
Outside the flower cutting garden, Ryan trims and grooms the long stemmed anemones and other plants.
Pruning and grooming is also going on at the European Beech trees, which line two sides of a horse paddock and one side of my living maze. European beech trees, Fagus sylvatica, or the common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae and native to the woodlands of central and southern Europe.
Pasang is our resident tree expert here at the farm. He oversees a lot of the care of my trees.
Here’s Phurba pruning and grooming the boxwood along the allée to my stable. This is mostly done with hand shears to give them a more clean and manicured appearance. Phurba starts from the top of the shrub and works his way down.
I love boxwood, Buxus, and have hundreds of these bold green shrubs. They’ve grown quite a bit this summer. I take very special care of these specimens and make sure they are pruned and groomed regularly.
As many of you know, I am in the process of building a living maze, a botanical puzzle of interesting trees, hedges, espaliers, and shrubs. I started this three-acre maze project in the spring of last year, and it’s already beginning to stump some of those who stroll through its pathways. Byron is weeding underneath the hedges. Weeds in the garden are inevitable – left alone, so many of them quickly overtake healthy flowers and plants, stealing their sunlight, water, and soil nutrients. We are constantly trying to keep up with the weeding.
On another day, Phurba is cleaning the gutters around the farm. Gutters are designed to control the flow of water around the home. Keeping them clear prevents water back-up and moisture damage to the wood, fascia and foundation. This day was particularly wet with rain showers most of the morning and afternoon.
Inside the greenhouse, Ryan grooms some of the potted plants before bringing them into my home. I love all kinds of container plants, and over the years I have amassed quite a collection of specimens. Most of my potted plants are kept in the greenhouse, where they can be nurtured properly, especially during colder seasons and times when I’m traveling. However, I also like to decorate my home with a wide assortment of potted plants that provide interesting and expressive foliage. It’s an inexpensive way to add color and texture to any space.
And at the end of the day, here’s Fernando “raking” the roads. We created this special device to rake the gravel, so it is even and also picks up any debris along the way. This is done every couple of weeks to keep the roads looking neat and tidy. We’re getting a lot done here at Cantitoe Corners. What early season chores are on your list?
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, we're expecting more showers this morning after an entire day of heavy rains and flash flooding. It's been a very wet start to autumn, but there are still some beautiful surprises out in the gardens.
Most of the flowers are gone, but there are a few perennials showing off their late summer-early fall colors - the Russian sage, Japanese anemones, nasturtiums, phlox, asters, and of course, the autumn crocus.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
The common name for Colchicum is autumn crocus, but they are not true autumn crocus because there are many species of true crocus which are autumn blooming. Also, Colchicum flowers have six stamens while crocuses have only three. Colchicum is a member of the botanical family Colchicaceae and is native to West Asia, Europe, parts of the Mediterranean coast, down the East African coast to South Africa and the Western Cape.
The scientific name comes from Colchis, a region on the coast of the Black Sea. The name Colchicum alludes to the poisonous qualities of the species. The plant contains an alkaloid known as colchicine, which is found in all parts, but mostly in the seeds. Colchicum typically blooms from September to November. Here are some flowers just beginning to open.
And then once open, Colchicums produce large, goblet-like blooms in shades of pink, violet or white. They are large striking flower heads, with white at the base leading to pale pink at the apex.
Some of the varieties we’ve planted include ‘Lilac Wonder’, ‘Waterlily’, ‘Dick Trotter’, Colchicum byzantinum, and Colchicum bornmuelleri. This one is “Waterlily” – a double petaled cultivar.
When the weather is mild, colchicum’s nearly perfect cup-shape flowers begin to unfurl. Most Colchicum plants produce their flowers without any foliage. This is why these flowers were first known by the common name “naked boys.” In the Victorian era, they were also called “naked ladies.”
Colchicums are quite delicate but spread nicely in the autumn garden. Colchicum is a good pollen source for bees in fall when little else is available for them. And, because Colchicums are toxic, they provide a natural way to repel animals such as deer, mice, squirrels, and moles.
These flowers look so beautiful grown in clumps. I have them in various gardens near the carriage roads, so they can be seen by visiting guests.
When in bloom, phlox are covered with groups of small, sweet-smelling, star-shaped flowers from clean white to pale pastel, including pink, red, lavender, and purple.
Phlox species have tubular flowers with five distinct petals.
Aster is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Asters have daisy-like flowers and come in a variety of colors. They are easy to grow and require very little maintenance. They typically bloom in the late summer and fall, and they add color to the garden as the seasons change.
The name Aster is Greek, meaning “star,” and refers to the appearance of the flowers.
White Wood Aster, Aster divaricatus, bears clusters of small white flowers in late summer. These are herbaceous perennial wildflowers with an upright and mounding growth habit.
Tricyrtis hirta, the toad lily or hairy toad lily, is a Japanese species of hardy herbaceous perennial plant in the lily family Liliaceae. Toad lilies are hardy perennials native to ravines and woodland edges in India, China, Japan, and other parts of Asia. Toad lily flowers bloom in a range of spotted colors in the axels of the plant.
Most Tricyrtis begin blooming in September or October, depending on the cultivar and the weather, and remain for three or four weeks or until they are wilted by frost.
Under my long pergola, there are still some beautiful passion flower blooms showing off their color and unique form. They bloom from spring through late fall, The passion flower genus includes more than 500 species of mostly tendril-bearing vines in the family Passifloraceae.
Also in my pergola garden is Perovskia atriplicifolia, commonly called Russian sage. It shows tall, airy, spike-like clusters that create a lavender-blue cloud of color above the finely textured, aromatic foliage. It is vigorous, hardy, heat-loving, drought-tolerant, and deer resistant.
In the nearby flower cutting garden – morning glory. I have some growing on the fence. The brightly colored trumpet-shaped flowers have a slight fragrance and are popular with butterflies and hummingbirds. The buds are twirled up tightly and unfold when the sun hits them in the morning, giving them their unique name.
This is a Nasturtium. Nasturtium plants, Tropaeolum, are loved for their rich, saturated, jewel-toned colors. Planted in the spring after the threat of frost has passed, they are fast and easy to grow. Nasturtium is a genus of about 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants. It was named by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum, and is the only genus in the family Tropaeolaceae.
These flowers can vary in shade, but the most popular versions are orange, yellow, pink, red, or mahogany. There are also varieties in subdued shades of butter yellow and cream.
Here’s a look at the interesting leaves of Nasturtium. The leaves are circular, shield-shaped and grow on a trailing plant. They are fragrant, with a mustard-like scent. And, do you know… all parts of the nasturtium plant are edible. The flowers, leaves, stems, and young seed pods can be eaten. All of these parts have a distinct peppery flavor similar to radishes.
There are still a few hydrangea flowers in the garden also – these are across the carriage road from my chicken yard. Hydrangeas are popular ornamental plants, grown for their large flower heads, which are excellent in cut arrangements and for drying.
The anemones are also holding strong. Anemone is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Most anemone flowers have a simple, daisy-like shape and lobed foliage that sway in the lightest breezes.
Depending on the species, anemones can bloom from the earliest days of spring into the fall months. These blooms sit atop upright, airy stems and grow two to three feet tall.
And the two-and-a-half inch wide circular flowers come in white, pink, or mauve. Flowers can be single, double, or semi-double and add great late season color to the garden. I hope wherever you are this weekend, you can stop to appreciate the beautiful flowers that are still showing off their gorgeous colors and forms this time of year.
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