Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 1:53 p.m. | Updated 4:08 p.m.
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The Basque cheesecake in the style of La Viña de San Sebastián crosses borders and triumphs thousands of kilometers from Euskadi, as Lucía Larragoiti’s story demonstrates. An architect by profession, in 2021 while living and working in London she decided to embark on a new adventure in her life focused on gastronomy and entrepreneurship. This is how La Maritxu was born, a business specialized in cheesecakes that in just four years has established itself on the London scene with two stores in the city’s fashionable neighborhoods, thousands of customers and an incessant presence on social networks thanks to their elaborations.
«My name is Lucía and this is the story behind our family business. We are three sisters from the Basque Country who currently reside in Quito (María) and London (Almudena and Lucía). For many years we dreamed of bringing a piece of Basque culture to our new homes abroad and it was then that we realized that one of the best jewels of the Basque Country was its gastronomy,” they explain on the La Maritxu website about the birth of his workshop in the English capital, in a text entirely in English.
And, contrary to what one might imagine at first, in ‘La Maritxu’ beyond its products there is not a hint of Spanish or Basque in signs, letters or decoration. The project has fit like a glove in London and its clientele is mostly made up of local people. So much so that they have even had to explain the origin of the firm’s name to the Anglo-Saxon public, “a common and affectionate diminutive in Euskadi to refer to Mary.”
A spectacular reception that has allowed ‘La Maritxu’ to have two physical stores in privileged and highly sought-after areas of London in a short space of time. After starting with a first location at number 2 of Connaugt Village, a commercial and residential area very close to Hyde Park that stands out for its streets full of charm, its numerous art galleries and its independent businesses where fashion brands mix with cheese shops, pastry shops, wine bars and luxury hotels from the Hilton or Marriott chains, this past October 8 they landed in the Soho neighborhood with a second establishment in the Carnaby area.
All thanks to the success of their cheesecakes, which have cheese, cream, sugar and eggs among their ingredients and generate lines at their stores decorated with Chillida sheets, with supplies running out on weekends. “The authentic Basque cheesecake”, which can be purchased both in physical stores and online, is sold for forty pounds for the size of eight portions and for fifty pounds for the large version with twelve portions. In addition, they also have portions priced at six pounds and are already working on a mini size option that will be priced at thirteen pounds.
La Maritxu, the cheesecake that is also sweeping social networks
In addition to the dedication of its founder and the team of workers, one of the reasons that has led La Maritxu to succeed in London has been its success on social networks with countless videos, reels or tiktoks dedicated to its cheesecake. A multitude of publications praising their products that have filled their premises with customers eager to try the cheese tarts and led ‘La Maritxu’ to have a legion of more than 55,000 followers on its Instagram profile.
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