It’s one of the most popular dessert in France, Opera is dedicated to chocolate lovers and is a beautiful tribute to the Opera Garnier and Its dancers.
Created by the Ritz pastry chef
The Opera cake was invented in 1955 by pastry chef Cyriaque Gavillon. Cyriaque Gavillon’s father was pastry chef at the Ritz, the son ran the Dalloyau house. Cyriaque was an architect of the modernization of the cakes of the time. He would have liked to create a cake in which all the layers are exposed and all of the aromas of which can be tasted in one bite. And his wife Andrée would then have named it “Opera” because the cake could evoke the stage of the Opera.
A tribute to the “Petits rats de l’opéra”
The cake paid tribute to the dancer customers of the shop. At the time, this cake was perceived as avant-garde because of its very clean shape, but also because of the ingredients used. Gavillon reduces the sugar, eliminates the alcohol and gives it a rectangular shape, thus inventing a very Parisian cake. But five years after the creation of Gavillon, Gaston Lenôtre created his own Opera and claimed paternity. It was not until 1988 that the newspaper Le Monde decided by attributing the paternity of the Opera to the house of Dalloyau!
