Maison Kayser, the new corner of Paris in Madrid
We have a new obsession . Is named Maison Kayser and, although it had everything ready to take flight on March 28, it has been now, in the post-covid era, when this corner of Paris has opened its doors . And we are very lucky, because after being present in no less than 23 countries, it has been the turn of Spain and specifically the city of Madrid.
ERIC KAYSER: MAKING BREAD GREAT AGAIN
But who is eric kaiser ? To speak of Eric Kayser is to speak of an eminence. With more than 200 bakeries spread over much of the globe (Tokyo, London, Hong Kong, Russia, Morocco...), has established itself as a benchmark in the world of baking and pastry, creating a global brand.
Native of Alsace, Eric learned the trade from his family . Son, grandson and great-grandson of bakers, he soon felt those butterflies that led him, years later, to make it his job as well. Would that child, who was born with a loaf of bread under his arm -never better said- know what he was going to become? Unlike others who dream of being astronauts or movie stars, Eric was clear, he wanted to be a baker.
"A corner of Paris in Madrid"
The idea of his work was a goal that he pursued in everything he did, to elaborate " a good traditional bread with simplicity and honesty ”, as he himself affirms, and put bread back on the pedestal it deserves within gastronomy . At age 19 he enrolled in what became known as the 'Bakery Tour de France' (Les Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France), rubbing shoulders with and learning from the best. Also, for almost 10 years, he was sharing his knowledge, teaching about the French tradition as a teacher at the Institut National de Boulangerie Pâtisserie (INBP) . But when was his dream of opening a bakery going to come true? There was still a little more time.
Study, work and innovation . Perhaps the turning point for this Alsatian came in 1994, the year in which he, along with Patrick Castagna , they invented a whole revolution, the Fermentolevain . This machine allows to keep alive the crux of the panarra question , the sourdough . We all know the work that requires having a good raw material with which to make bread. A mother dough is something alive, to which special attention must be paid, cared for and fed. How many times have we seen bakers opening late in the morning to bake their products? With the Fermentolevain this changed radically. Thanks to technology, it allows the liquid ferment to be preserved at an ideal temperature. The result? That she was always ready to work.
Just two years later, he surprised again and finally made the first of his dreams come true. On September 13, 1996, the original Maison Kayser, specifically on Rue Monge in Paris , a paradise in terms of baking and pastry, which also opted for making bread as it had always been done, without additives and putting the quality of the ingredients at the top.
Since that moment, there has been nothing to resist him and his career has been unstoppable. In the last 20 years, they have seen the birth of Maison Kayser branches, cities such as London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Lisbon, Dubai, Hong Kong ... and now he distributes his time at the more than 200 locations they have around the world. Undoubtedly, it was our time. Now Maison Kayser arrives in Spain and does opening its first headquarters in Madrid and with the expectation of growing in our country in the next 2-3 years and in different cities.
A CORNER OF PARIS IN MADRID
Maison Kayser arrives to take the bakery to another level . All this without losing an iota of what the word artisan means. In this new space of Velazquez Street , It can taste, sit down to chat, work, fantasize in front of its windows full of delicacies -which are undoubtedly where your eyes go as soon as you enter- and also, one of the keys to all its bakeries, being able to see the craftsman at work . For this they have a bakery in the space itself, where there is no trap or cardboard and from which freshly made batches of bread and croissants come out every so often.
Maison Kayser's corner of delights
All this tells us Alexandre Boissonnet , one of Kayser's partners, who has been working with him for 12 years. "I started with Eric in the stores in Paris, then we exported the model to Mexico and now we have come to Spain," he explains. Though have technology at your service and with that brilliant creation of Eric, the Fermentolevain, “ at Maison Kayser we have the stamp of craftsman, because we do everything ourselves . Here we don't have production lines of hundreds of meters, so each piece is different from the other, each bread or croissant changes shape”.
Thus they have shaped a concept of boulangerie where all their products are fresh, natural, without preservatives or additives, which are kneaded by hand and baked several times a day. "If we don't like something, we don't do it and we bake all day, because they are products that have a short life, so the ideal is to start taking out new batches to preserve the highest quality and freshness ”, points out Alexandre.
He receives us a showcase with hundreds of pastries, small cakes and sweets , flanked by a shelf where the loaves are displayed. Croissant, brioche, pan au chocolat, financiers of different flavors, coffee and chocolate éclairs, seasonal fruit tartlets, lemon ... A delight for the senses. As to breads, the offer is overwhelming . From the traditional tourte (loaf), up to a turmeric bread to eat it alone, without forgetting baguette (rustic, with poppy seeds, with sesame...) or cornbread, cereals, olives or nuts, among others.
Salads take away or to take at Maison Kayser
And do not think that each Maison Kayser is a carbon copy of the other. In the most intelligent way, it adapts some of its products to the taste of the country or city where it opens and works with the seasonal products of each place. Quite a challenge? “ In each place we listen to the customer . We get what the market asks for, but without losing the essence. For example, in Mexico bread is hardly sold, because it is not consumed in their culture. An endemic product here is our French baguette with Iberian ham or a mixed sandwich ”, he explains to Traveler.es.
That is precisely another part of the concept, a space that has been baptized as la cuisine du boulanger (The baker's kitchen), where they sell fresh and homemade dishes, for moments like lunch and dinner , with options such as salads, sandwiches or stuffed croissants. Also soon, they will launch their own brunch, to cover all the moments of consumption throughout the day.
If content is important, so is the container. Maison Kayser was born as a clean, homely space, where you want to sit down and hang out, tasting its fantastic and balanced sweets or its coffees, which they make with organic coffee and that they roast themselves in their roasters in Mexico and New Jersey. If you are lazy, they have also started working with delivery from their own website and with the main home delivery platforms..
The secret of your success? “ Good raw material, freshness, good recipes, good team and patience ”, ends Alexandre.
How not to ask...
Address: Calle Velázquez, 126, Madrid See map
Telephone: 910880980
Schedule: Every day of the week from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.