Word of mouth has guests from across state rushing to quaint CT eatery ‘like no other.’

Julien’s Farm Store , a small cafe and bakery, opened a year ago with no publicity or even a website, just a sign with a few balloons at the end of the driveway in rural Granby and some photos of its pastry on Instagram.

“We said, ‘Let’s hang up sign and see what happens,'” said Julian Tessier, a world-class chef and pastry maker, who opened it with his husband, Christopher Peregrin.

It happened big time.

The locals came, word spread, and a year later the place is so popular the line starts forming Saturdays and Sundays 15 minutes before opening and continues for five hours.

“It was quite astonishing,” how “word of mouth” brought guests from an hour away and grew the business, Tessier said.

Customers say the place has a “magic” about it because of the combination of extraordinary food, scenery and countryside views.

“For breakfast foodies, it needs to be a destination,” Granby Town Manager Michael P. Walsh said.

Walsh said he and his wife arrived promptly at 8 a.m. opening and were fifth in line with about 20 people behind them.

Walsh said he had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a croissant, four slices of “perfectly crisped bacon evenly spaced” and with the cheese “to give the foodie a very good burst of flavor.”

His wife had the bacon quiche.

“Hands down the best ever breakfast sandwich I have ever had,” he said. “We munched the meal outside in the garden as we watched the horses while looking up at a paraglider who was passing by.”

Walsh said Julien’s, like the other places in Granby is a hidden gem worthy of a trip.

“So plan a day and experience the Pride of the Valley in a place called Granby,” Walsh said.

The cafe operates out of a small building the size of a two-car garage on Valkyrie Farm.

There are horses, picturesque barns, a large garden of Dahlias, zinnia, sunflowers and produce garden by Tessier.

Customers eat outside on picnic and bistro tables among cottage-inspired gardens.

“This is so quaint and such a unique find,” one guest wrote in an online review. “It’s like finding your own piece of Vermont.”

Tessier grew up in France, where he attended culinary school and was trained in pastry as well.

Later, he traveled the world as a chef,

He then spent 20 years in London, where he met Peregrin six years ago. They’ve been married for two years.

Their professional paths took the couple to New York City, then to Granby where one of Peregrin’s best friends, Carolyn Mainardi, owns Valkyrie Farm and Valkyrie Equestrian Center, 175 Barndoor Hills Road. Peregrin is a horse trainer there and he and Carolyn grew up riding together.

Tessier said he loves the Granby community and the friends he’s made.

Cindy and Peter Sanders of East Windsor check out the selection of pastries at Julien's Farm Store in Granby on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)

“The community has become so supportive. It’s very rewarding and fulfilling to be part of the community,” Tessier said. “That’s the fun part of it and it fills this whole sense of community.”

The farm store began as a one-man show, but with the flood of business in this first year, Tessier has hired two additional bakers and other other crew.

He has an open kitchen and inside, only seating for six inside around an island counter when it’s not too busy.

Everything is from scratch, including the brioche buns that lunch sandwiches are served on and the biscuits for breakfast sandwiches that guests swoon over.

“It was all good, but I gotta say that the biscuit stole the show,” one guest wrote in an online review.

The bakery case is filled at 8 a.m. opening and the contents go fast. When they run out, they close.

Tessier said he’s focusing on doing American baked goods “well,” but he’s been adding more.

French pastry items like croissants with all kinds of fillings, apple tarts with almond cream at the bottom. Soon he will add macarons to the menu.

He also makes specialty cakes to order.

Baked goods sold in the farm store include: doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, and cookies, but he changes it up.

“They have the best oatmeal cookie; better than my mother in-law made,” an online reviewer wrote.

Customers online are also raving about other offerings by the store, including rhubarb pistachio frangipane, Nutella donuts, peanut butter chocolate cake, spicy applesauce ginger cake muffin, peanut butter frosted banana bread, and lemon drizzle cake.

For breakfast they serve bacon egg and cheese, sausage egg, or avocado and egg on those raved-about biscuits.

As for lunch, Tessier keeps the menu simple because he wants it to be done right.

There are salads made with locally sourced produce, including from his his garden, soups that are seasonal, think pumpkin right now. He also carries quiches: bacon and cheese and zucchini, tomato,and feta.

Even the apples, plums, grape and peaches come from a local farm.

Sandwiches done on the house made Brioche buns include: grilled chicken sandwich club, ham and swiss, vegetarian roasted pepper sandwich.

Julien’s Farm Store also sells their own syrup, flowers and house made granola.

Tessier has been an avid gardener since childhood, he said, along with his parents and grandmother. He’s loves to experiment with hybridization to produce interesting flowers.

“Gardening is my passion,” he said.

The idea for the farm store started as organically as it has grown.

The small, rustic-looking building on the farm that houses the store wasn’t being used, so they put an oven in it, thinking Tessier could cook some food for people who visited the stables, as he did for family gatherings.

In the end they decided on going for a small business. They opened August of 2023.

Tessier said he thinks their success is “great,” and they’ve started to look for an additional location, but doesn’t know where.

“It’s fascinating how much of an effect it has on people, people thank me for being here,” Tessiersaid. “The demographic changed because word got out.”

Online reviews emphatically praise the whole vibe at the farm store.

“The food is an absolute standout and was absolutely worth the 30 minute drive I took this morning,” a reviewer wrote. “Everything I have had so far at Julien’s is obviously made with a lot of care and to me this farm store is absolutely worth checking out.”

Another wrote, calling it a “one of a kind” place, wrote, “The outdoor seating area is stunning. I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a popular place for portrait photographers.”

Another said they would drive an hour again for the food and views.

“Just a beautiful quaint place like no other,” the guest wrote.

They are open Thursday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and serve lunch on Thursdays and Fridays.