It was a normal day for Nina Aranda and Marisol Capozzi. As usual, every 15 days, for normal work his pastry shop in the Oost district of AmsterdamThere was also the production of content for social networks. In addition to croissants and alfajores, the store also had cameras and cell phones. But the customer who came in suddenly forced them to put everything away: it was the most unexpected visit and also the most longed for. The Queen of Holland.
Nina and Marisol are pastry chefs. Both are 37 years old and emigrated from Argentina. They were married to two Dutchmen, met there and founded a pastry shop together. Amsterdam baking companywhich eventually became an Argentine corner in the capital of the Netherlands.
His specialty are Alfajores, croissants and also empanadas. There’s plenty of dulce de leche, yes, but also chocolate and other delicacies. “People come because of the quality and the product. Argentine pastries are in no way inferior to other more sophisticated baked goods,” says Marisol on the phone Clarion.
They opened five years ago and created a space for themselves. They only have one store take away in the center of Amsterdam and the Oost location (“It’s more of a neighborhood,” he clarifies), where they usually are and where there are also small tables where you can sit for breakfast, a snack or lunch.
On Saturday the door opened and Máxima Zorreguieta entered. “We couldn’t believe it. It was completely unexpected,” says Marisol, revealing that they dealt with the nerves and treated the queen like “any customer, paying attention to what she needs.”
For security and protocol reasons, he does not want to reveal details of the visit or dialogue, but says that Máxima was very interested Wanted to know that behind the stage in the kitchen and that he asked them several questions. “She visits shops, she is very interested,” says the pastry chef, but admits that it is not usual for her to go out to eat or have a drink like every neighborhood child, as she did this time.
The girls shared Máxima’s visit in a reel on their Instagram account. They knew Máxima had tried her alfajores because someone told them that one of the more than 25 daily orders leaving the store had arrived at one of the royal family’s official residences. They also knew that it was so Fan of cornstarch alfajoresbecause he gave it to him at his 50th birthday party.
This time she tried “several things” and the entrepreneurs gave her sweet bread. So far, the biggest “approach” to the most famous Argentinian in the Netherlands has been to prepare dozens of these Alfajorcitos as souvenirs the inaugural event of the series, which reflects the life of Zorreguieta.
The day after the visit, Marisol said operations at the site had returned to normal. But for her, what happened happened it will be unforgettable. “It was wonderful. We hope it’s the first visit,” he enthuses. And he says that the pastry shop has grown steadily with a lot of work and that they even send their creations – depending on what they are – all over Europe.
Their Alfajores are the star product and for which they want to become better known. “They last a long time, can be sent anywhere, are used for breakfast, dinner and birthdays,” he explains.
But he says that Europeans still do not know him and that is why they are doing evangelization work. Not only in the networks, where they show, for example, recipes and the bathing process of the people of Mar del Plata, but also among the customers who go to the establishment, to whom You explain it to them and let them try it.
Does dulce de leche surprise you? “For many, yes, because they find it very sweet, but that hurdle is lowered,” says the pastry chef, who expects to change the name of the establishment next year so that it can be fully identified with what it is: a sweet corner, 100% Argentine.
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