This Might Be The Most Expensive Bakery In The World

Everything feels more expensive these days, especially when it comes to eating out. One place in particular where you might have noticed an increase in prices is at bakeries as owners continue to battle the rising costs of staple ingredients like butter and eggs. But no matter how much your local bakery is charging, you can at least rest assured that there are people paying a heck of a lot more out there, especially at Cedric Grolet in London.

Located inside The Berkeley, a luxurious five-star hotel, Cedric Grolet is a popular upscale bakery run by and named after one of the internet's favorite chefs. Grolet, a French pastry chef who trained at Fauchon in Paris, is known around the world for his trompe-l'œil, meticulously made desserts that are designed to look like fruits and other objects. Typically consisting of a mousse-based entremet, a trompe-l'œil is all about creating an optical illusion, and Cedric Grolet uses his techniques and flair to turn desserts into works of art.

He's also pretty skilled at showcasing his creations, with over 13.5 million Instagram followers and 265 million likes on TikTok. He's been named as the best pastry chef in the world multiple times, so his bakeries can get away with charging high prices but the menu at the London location in particular has earned Cedric Grolet the reputation of being one of the most expensive bakeries in the world.

Grolet opened his first bakery in Paris in 2018 and followed it up with the London location in 2022. Since then, he's also launched bakeries in Monaco, Saint Tropez, and Singapore. Interestingly, the prices in Paris are slightly cheaper than the London menu. One of Grolet's fruit creations will set you back at least £18 at The Berkeley, which was the equivalent of about $25 at the time of writing, versus €18 ($21) in Paris.

A Cedric Grolet pecan cookie, meanwhile, costs £25 in London, which is equal to a whopping $35, and a pavlova for 10 people comes out at £100 ($137). If you're really looking to spend, you can book a table, where a pain au chocolat will set you back £9 ($12) and a cheese croissant £15 ($20.50). As for drinks, you're looking at about £12 ($16) for a mocha or chai latte and £10 ($14) for cold brew.

In comparison, a pain au chocolat at other popular London bakeries usually costs less than £4.50 ($6) and less than $8 at New York's best bakeries. There's no definitive answer to what bakery is actually the world's most expensive, but that's a stark difference — and Grolet's price points shocked even his mentors at first.

Grolet was one of the first to position pastries as luxury items, and the managers of the hotel where he opened his first bakery, Le Meurice in Paris, never thought people would pay that much for them. But business is booming, even if people do question whether it's worth it. Cedric Grolet London has a less than a three-star rating on TripAdvisor, where customers have called it "excessively expensive." Reddit users have also said the pastries are "not worth it," with one chef adding, "there is an upper limit to how good anything can actually be."

However, that same chef said the Grolet pastries looked "incredibly technically proficient" and that he would pay $60 to try "the best of the best." A lot of people in the industry understand why the products cost so much. Grolet is extremely talented, his desserts are very technical, and they take hours to create. There are also a lot of premium ingredients involved, like yuzu and gold powder coatings. Cedric Grolet London is also designed more like a lab then a traditional bakery and visiting is seen as an experience for customers.

A lot of everyday visitors feel that at least some of the items are worth the price. For example, one Instagram reviewer called the pain au chocolat "perfect" and "difficult to achieve" but said he wouldn't recommend the cookies. You might just need to try for yourself to decide –- just make sure to bring your wallet.