Gazta Basque Cheesecake in Shirogane— Outstanding Robust Flavor with a Rich Creamy Feel

San Sebastian—a city in Spain’s Basque region famous for its fine food, is home to the La Viña Bar, whose cheesecake is the envy of pâtissiers all around the world. San Sebastian—a city in Spain’s Basque region famous for its fine food, is home to the La Viña Bar, whose cheesecake is the envy of pâtissiers all around the world. The recipe is closely guarded, but after repeated requests, a Japanese pâtissier who fell in love with the taste, Saori Katsura, became the only person in the world to have been given permission to enter the kitchen, and thus was able to learn the recipe. She went on to open Gazta, a shop in Shirogane specializing in Basque cheesecake.

The menu offers just two cheesecakes: one 8 cm in diameter, the other 15 cm. As they come from the oven, cheesecakes are immediately placed on wooden boards full of small holes, allowing residual heat to remain in the center and radiate away gradually. While remaining true to the time-honored methods of La Viña as the origin, Katsura adjusts the heating time and temperature every morning to match the Japanese climate. Through such ingenuity, she has achieved the same robust favor and rich, creamy texture as the cheesecakes from La Viña. People begin to queue every day soon after the shop opens, and Gazta’s Basque cheesecakes are best enjoyed fresh, so be sure to enjoy them as soon as possible!