Four key moments in the evolution of Postrería, from gastrobar to prestigious dessert restaurant in Mexico

In 2013, Jesús Escalera and Fernanda Covarrubias opened La Postrería in Guadalajara (Mexico), a unique space that began as an informal dessert gastrobar that also had a display case and workshop pastry. Ever since, for years it has not stopped growing, with the collaboration of Fanny Gollaz. As they themselves have explained to us earlier this year, coinciding with the tenth anniversary, they have decided to move to a new location and, incidentally, begin to expand the idea to other cities. In so good.. magazine #30 we analyze some key moments in the unstoppable evolution of this establishment.

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The beginnings of La Postrería

“Success was an accident”

The success of the first Postrería was an accident. Escalera and Covarrubias undertook this project ten years ago as a way to ‘retire’ from gastronomic restaurants and do something smaller and more relaxed. They did not expect that this hidden gastrobar with “hipster” desserts would become what it is today. “This led us to rebuild and adapt the premises on the fly with the savings we were having. In the end, although that location had a very peculiar magic, everything was patched, so we wanted to adapt a place from the beginning with the needs that the Postrería required, in a less hidden area and where a lot of light would enter.

Transfer of La Postrería to a 260 m2 establishment

More space for training

The new location has 260 square meters, divided into a pass-through kitchen, a production kitchen, two classrooms visible to the customer, a central bar where the display case is located, and a room that is mostly open. A space that has mainly served to enhance training, offering more diversity of courses for both professionals and amateurs.

On a decorative level, the place is lighter, with pastel colors. In addition, the brand image has also been updated, both the logo and the name (taking away the article “la” from Postrería). “What has not changed is the philosophy of combining training with the tasting of plated desserts and offering workshop pastry.”

Service as an added value

Goal: Create more experiences at the table

Any news regarding offers? Not really. At the moment, they are reviewing classic desserts and updating them, creating a kind of compilation menu. “The main improvement in terms of offering is in the service, seeking to complement it with drinks that are on par with the desserts. Now we make our own kombuchas, and also infusions with Mexican ingredients. In addition, we have made a strong commitment to coffee with Café Estelar, who are roasters from Guadalajara who are passionate about coffee and who are highly awarded.”

Pastry continues to be the protagonist, but “it was useless to offer different desserts, with personality and quality products, if what surrounded them was not at the same level. For this reason, we will maintain the same philosophy that the pastry chefs are the ones who come out to present the desserts, but we will delve into the finishes of both desserts and drinks at the table.”

Orderly and controlled expansion

“We are franchising the Postreria”

With this change, Escalera and Covarrubias have decided to take a delicate risk: franchise the Postrería. “During the pandemic we saw how fragile the pastry business was and that we are not a basic necessity, but a small luxury. After thinking about it a lot, we decided to get advice and training for almost two years on legal issues, standardization, and structure to be able to do what we have been repeating for ten years: create a sweet culture and open in other places and countries.”

Their intention is for the expansion to be done in an orderly and controlled manner, to protect quality. “For starters, we have opened two other spaces in Guadalajara, and one of them is located in the area where the original establishment was, with the intention of not abandoning the loyal customers we had there. On the other hand, we have already started in another strategic place in Mexico, Tijuana, and we plan to open another Postrería in the capital, Mexico City, very soon. From there, the idea is that little by little we can expand the idea to other countries, including Spain.”

Discover the interview we did with Jesús Escalera and three recipes in so good.. #30