{"id":27397,"date":"2026-08-01T12:59:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T10:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/non-categorise\/cedric-grolet-when-luxury-means-waiting\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:59:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T10:59:40","slug":"cedric-grolet-when-luxury-means-waiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/chronicle\/cedric-grolet-when-luxury-means-waiting\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e9dric Grolet: When Luxury Means Waiting"},"content":{"rendered":"

One morning at 9:10 a.m., I went to the pastry shop C\u00e9dric Grolet\u2019s<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s pastry shop, in the heart of Saint-Tropez. My goal is simple: to buy a cake for my son, who is as much of a sweet tooth as he is a foodie, and who can\u2019t wait to dig in. The shop opened ten minutes earlier. <\/p>\n

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C\u00e9dric Grolet on the terrace of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Messardi\u00e8re in Saint-Tropez \u00a9Ma\u00efa Ch\u00e4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A nightclub… by day<\/h2>\n

In front of the entrance, barriers, ropes, and a receptionist\u2014who is, incidentally, smiling\u2014screen visitors. The scene is more reminiscent of the entrance to a nightclub than that of a pastry shop. Inside, there are three customers. Behind the counter, two young employees are bustling about energetically. They serve customers, pack orders, and respond to them with a smile. They\u2019re doing the best they can, and it\u2019s clear that they aren\u2019t the focus of this column. The subject is elsewhere. <\/p>\n

Outside, about fifteen people are already waiting. If a team is overwhelmed, I\u2019ve never minded waiting. That\u2019s often the price of success. On the other hand, waiting because an organization seems to have made that wait a part of the experience leaves me much more perplexed. <\/p>\n

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The entrance to the C\u00e9dric Grolet boutique in Saint-Tropez \u00a9Edouard Amoiel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pastry for… 18 euros<\/h2>\n

In recent years, part of the luxury industry seems to have turned waiting into a full-fledged marketing tool. The longer the line, the more desirable the product appears. The more restricted access is, the more exclusive the experience seems. It\u2019s as if the act of waiting or desiring a product increases its perceived value. You know me\u2026 I don\u2019t buy into that idea. <\/p>\n

The price of 18 euros for a cake includes more than just its size or quality. It includes an experience that lives up to expectations. A seamless process. Consideration for the customer\u2019s time. A few minutes later, we head out. Not because we\u2019re impatient. By choice\u2014and perhaps as a form of protest… <\/p>\n

A few streets down, we walk into the bakery Les Deux Fr\u00e8res. Behind the counter, four or five people are serving customers nonstop. Orders come one after another, as do the smiles, and everyone leaves within moments. The comparison, of course, isn\u2019t about the products. It\u2019s about the way they welcome customers. <\/p>\n

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C\u00e9dric Grolet’s boutique in Saint-Tropez \u00a9Edouard Amoiel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Refined Luxury<\/h2>\n

C\u00e9dric Grolet’s boutique in Saint-Tropez is operated in partnership with the Les Airelles<\/strong><\/a>group, a company renowned for its presence in the luxury hospitality sector. It is precisely for this reason that this experience raises questions for me. Given that we know demand will be high throughout the summer season, why not adjust staffing levels accordingly? Why let fifteen people wait outside when two employees\u2014no matter how dedicated they may be\u2014simply cannot handle such a large volume of customers? Isn\u2019t true luxury precisely about saving customers time rather than making them waste it? <\/p>\n

So what bothers me isn\u2019t the success of this establishment. I understand that perfectly well. What puzzles me is the organizational approach that goes along with it. Saint-Tropez is often portrayed as a stage for appearances. Yet anyone who truly knows the village knows that it\u2019s also built on a culture of hospitality, on shopkeepers who know their regulars, and on a certain simplicity behind the prestige. That\u2019s the kind of luxury I love\u2014a luxury that welcomes rather than excludes. A luxury that simplifies rather than complicates. A luxury that recognizes that the customer\u2019s time is just as valuable as the product they\u2019ve just purchased. <\/p>\n

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Cedric Grolet’s pastries \u00a9Calvin Courjon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(Un)distinguished Welcome<\/h2>\n

By turning certain stores into settings where waiting becomes a marketing tool, we sometimes end up losing sight of what really matters. After all, a great store isn\u2019t defined solely by what it sells. It\u2019s also defined by its art of welcoming guests\u2014and that, ultimately, is where true hospitality begins. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A visit to C\u00e9dric Grolet\u2019s shop in Saint-Tropez led me to ponder a question that goes far beyond pastry-making. At what point does waiting cease to be a consequence of success and become part of the experience? What if true luxury simply consisted of saving customers time? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"C\u00e9dric Grolet: When Luxury Means Waiting | Restaurant Saint-Tropez | Edouard Amoiel","description":"A visit to C\u00e9dric Grolet\u2019s shop in Saint-Tropez led me to ponder a question that goes far beyond pastry-making. At what point does waiting cease to be a consequ"},"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_restaurants-par-lieux":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_style-de-restaurant":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[356],"tags":[],"restaurants-par-lieux":[398],"style-de-restaurant":[],"class_list":["post-27397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chronicle","restaurants-par-lieux-saint-tropez"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27397"},{"taxonomy":"restaurants-par-lieux","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/restaurants-par-lieux?post=27397"},{"taxonomy":"style-de-restaurant","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/style-de-restaurant?post=27397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}