The bakery has taken London by storm since it opened in 2021
A Basque bakery in South London, famed for its delicious cheesecakes, is on cloud nine after being awarded the highest distinction in the food industry at the Great Taste 2026 awards.
Great Taste – the world’s largest food and drink accreditation scheme – has awarded an “extraordinary” three-star rating to La Maritxu bakery for its classic Basque cheesecake, the highest rating possible. Three of the bakery’s other cheesecakes have also been recognised by Great Taste, with two-star “outstanding” awards for its manchego and tiramisu cheesecakes, as well as one-star “delicious” award for its pistachio cheesecake.
Lucía Larragoiti, founder of La Maritxu, was delighted with the honour. She said: “Winning a Great Taste Award feels like an incredible milestone for us. We started La Maritxu out of a pure love for Basque baking, and the support from our London community has been overwhelming. This award is a testament to all the early mornings, hard work, and passion that go into every single cheesecake we bake.”
MyLondon praised La Maritxu when we reviewed the bakery in October 2024, saying “the hype was very much deserved”, while another of our reviewers declared its cheesecakes to be “the best I ever tasted“.
Ms Larragoiti, a former architect, decided to become an entrepreneur and introduce the Basque cheesecakes of her childhood to the British capital, working alongside her sisters Maria and Almudena. The family founded La Maritxu in 2021 and for five years, Ms Larragoiti worked as an architect by day and baker by night, only recently giving up her day job.
She says: “For many years, my sisters and I dreamed of bringing a piece of Basque culture to our new homes abroad. We soon realised that one of the best things about Basque culture is its gastronomy.
“The name ‘La Maritxu’ is a combination of my sister Maria’s name and the common Basque suffix -txu. In the Basque country, ending someone’s name with -txu [pronounced like ‘choo’] is a sign of familiarity and affection. This reflects the fact that the recipe for our Basque burnt cheesecake, also known as San Sebastian cheesecake, has been in our family for generations and is made with a very special ingredient – love.”
This year, a record-breaking 15,000 products were submitted for review by Great Taste from companies around the world.
Of those 15,000, less than a third – 4,286 (28.50%) received a 1-star award, deeming them ‘simply delicious’ – while 1,596 (10.61%) received a 2-star award, which means the judges felt they were ‘outstanding’. A small number of just 306 products (2.03%) received the highly coveted ‘exquisite and extraordinary’ 3-star award.
La Maritxu has four sites in Kingly Court, Connaught Village, Greenwich, and Coal Drops Yard.
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