AMAYA GARCIA

Updated Tuesday, February 20, 2024-09:20

Alejandro González Cordobés (32) still has a hard time digesting his success. Since he started making cheesecakes in the oven of his family home, with a half-clear idea in his head of what he wanted to do, a lot of desire and a certain unconsciousness, until today he has had a lot of rain and perhaps too fast. "

In four years I have met more people than in my entire previous life

," he says, sitting in the cafeteria of a hotel near his store on Velázquez Street.

Many will already be familiar with the name Álex Cordobés


- he is less lavish in photos because he highly values ​​his anonymity - and they will also have deduced that he is the entrepreneur behind the most desired - and viral - cheesecakes on the capital's scene. "

A day we have sold a thousand

, counting on the minis for two people that we have." It's Tuesday morning and in the store, minimalist and elegant like few others, three saleswomen are selling non-stop. "This is normal," one of them clarifies while she assembles a box.

The phenomenon reached its peak this Christmas, when the queues to get one of their cheesecake roscones began to form

before 5 in the morning.

"We gave them hot chocolate and buns because we were in trouble with the cold," says Álex. When they ran out - they only sold 50 a day at a price of 50 euros per unit - the resale began. "

I know that a lot has been paid, but I don't know specific figures

," he says somewhat timidly.

Queues at the Vélazquez store.

The name of Álex Cordobés is well known in this newspaper. The first time we talked about him it was October 2020. Some Real Madrid players then posted the cheesecakes of this entrepreneur about whom little was known. "

In the summer of 2019 I made the first cake and spent a year perfecting the recipe

." Friends, friends' parents and family were guiding him to find that excellence that he was looking for.

The fact is that the fame of the cakes began to circulate and the first orders arrived. "I had the first workshop at the end of 2021." Up until this point, I was only doing ten a day and they were flying. "

Word of mouth was key in the beginning

," he says, half puffing. And how fast everything has gone since then.

The roscón he made in collaboration with Brulé.

The hours in the pit per day until today are "unlimited." His father and his brother help him manage everything he puts on his shoulders, but when it comes to delegating there is a lot of room for improvement. As a matter of fact, he manages social networks and even answers clients' emails. "Sometimes it's impossible to respond to everyone," she says with resignation.

"Except the recipe, everything has changed." Pata negra eggs from Cobardes y Gallinas, excellent butter and cheeses from small suppliers are the base. "People notice if you lower the quality. There are many cheesecakes and you have to know how you want to differentiate yourself."

They have made a thousand proposals to expand the business and to date none have worked out. "I have received offers from Mexico, the United States, the United Arab Emirates... I would say more than 50 for sure." But he is clear about his model. "Doing this without losing control is impossible. It would sell a lot more, sure, but

it goes against my company philosophy

."

Traditional cheesecake by Álex Cordobés.

That the business has projection was clear from the moment it opened in the heart of the Salamanca neighborhood and revolutionized Velázquez Street. "

My idea is to open more stores, but nothing about entering large stores

," she says bluntly. "Grow, yes, but let's try to do it wisely." He also doesn't want to be in restaurants. "We are only in Takumi, but because of the relationship that unites me to the project."

It currently has

nine cakes on the menu

, with the traditional one (32 and 43 euros) as the best seller and the pink panther one as the latest addition. "I'm always thinking of new products, even beyond cakes." Good proof are the aforementioned cheesecake roscones that this December went on sale only on Fridays. He half signed them with Mario Ortiz, from the Brulée bakery, in Colmenar Viejo, known for the magnificent quality of its product in general and the Christmas classic, in particular. "We agree on our level of demand and share a way of seeing life," he clarifies about this first collaboration.

Álex Cordobés' store on Velázquez Street.

Through his social networks he has found a fluid communication channel with the public.

Everything it shows becomes an object of desire

. As an example, cheese and caviar cake. "He only made them to order through the web." She only prepared 50. They cost 250 euros. Of the mixtures that she has made with the cakes, the ones that were most difficult for her to get right were the dulce de leche and the lemon. "With the latter I started testing in 2020 and it went on sale in the summer of 2022."

The recipe behind all this phenomenon is known to only three people. "At first, it was like the big secret, I kept it like a treasure." Now it's not that big a deal. "The care with which you do things makes the difference." Success, which this

self-taught pastry chef

still has a hard time digesting , lies in the attention you pay to the details.