The Rise of Basque Cheesecake: A Journey Through La Viña

How do you elevate the humble cheesecake into a superstar sweet that millions seek? Marti Buckley finds the answers among the streets of Spain’s most delicious city.

4 October 2023

San Sebastián was voted the best city in the world for food by you in the 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards. We sought out one of the best-loved restaurants in the city to uncover the secrets of its most famous foodie export.

When you think of internet virality or A-list stardom, a pudding is not the first thing that typically comes to mind. The burnt Basque cheesecake, however, has reached every corner of the globe, from the pages of the New York Times to the Cheesecake Factory menu. But it got its start in a minuscule bar in the small coastal town of San Sebastián, Spain.

Brothers Eladio and Antonio Rivera founded La Viña in 1959; a humble, family-run pintxo bar in the heart of San Sebastián’s old town. Together with their wives, Carmen and Conchi, the brothers worked long hours behind the bar – if there were customers, no matter the hour, they served them. Eventually, Eladio and Carmen took the reins, and their son Santi began to work in the family business.

It was the late 1980s, and Spain was recovering from years of dictatorship and economic oppression. San Sebastián’s culinary star was on the rise, and Santi Rivera was experimenting in the bar’s kitchen, eventually developing the cheesecake heard around the world.

Conversations with Santi Rivera

Here, we sit down with Santi in San Sebastián’s Old Town to find out how it happened, what makes this cheesecake so special, and what is in the future for the world’s hottest pudding.

A Journey of Cooking

Before you worked full-time in the bar, were you studying or working in something else?

Well, I didn’t have work at the time. I actually studied to be an electrician, and nobody was hiring. So I started working with my father here in the bar, and eventually, I realised that if someday I wanted to take over the restaurant, I should learn to cook. If I didn’t learn how to cook, I wouldn’t have any future… just being a barman, well, it’s not enough. I started to study cooking.

The Birth of a Culinary Icon

Well, let’s talk a little bit about the burnt Basque cheesecake. Tell me more about the origin story.

I used to do tests in the kitchen. I would come to the kitchen on Mondays when the bar was closed. I started doing tests with a recipe. Looking at different recipes, I made combinations, mixing and comparing the results. I was testing lots of different things, but I didn’t know which dish would become important until customers told me.

Success and Gratitude

What do you think about the success the cheesecake has had globally?

I don’t know what to say. I’m very thankful. I think that when a product is super successful, it’s not just about how delicious it is. There are more factors, like the treatment given to the clients and the accessibility of the bar.

Future Aspirations

Are there plans to expand?

No, we want it to remain our cheesecake. We don’t want to grow in a massive, unstructured way. The cheesecake is good when it’s made and sold immediately. If you start freezing it, you begin to lose the flavour.

A Message for Cheesecake Lovers

Any other message for the people out there making and eating the cheesecake?

We don’t burn the cheesecake here. That gives it bitterness. But, of course, everyone can do whatever they would like.