Corteza

How did this place come about and what made it different from the start?
Corteza was born from a very simple need: to make and share what we love.
It started almost like an everyday gesture—baking bread and inviting others to taste it—and little by little it grew organically, almost without us noticing. From the beginning it had something very familial about it. Not only in the literal sense, but in the way we wanted the space to feel: warm, close, with the rhythm of crafts practiced patiently.

What made it different was precisely that. We never first thought about opening a business, but about creating a space where bread, conversation, and time could coexist naturally. Over time, Corteza became a kind of open house around the oven.

What part of the day, space, or creative process do those who work here enjoy the most?
The first hours of the day. When the oven begins to warm up and the space is still quiet. It’s a very intimate moment in the process: the dough that fermented overnight is ready, and each loaf begins to take shape. That’s when the artisanal character of the place is felt most strongly.

But we also enjoy when the space fills with people. When someone comes in for the first time, tastes the bread, and stays to talk for a while. That moment when bread stops being just bread and becomes part of a table.

If someone is coming in for the first time, what should they not miss?
Our conchas, which over time have become the house specialty.
They’re a bread beloved by those who visit us: soft, aromatic, and made with the same artisanal care that defines everything that comes out of our oven.

What has been an interesting challenge that has made you rethink something about the project?
El crecimiento. Cuando algo empieza de forma tan natural, el reto es permitir que evolucione sin perder su esencia. Cada vez que el proyecto se expande o cambia nos preguntamos cómo mantener el cuidado por el proceso, el respeto por los tiempos del pan y la cercanía con la gente que nos visita todos los días. Al final entendimos que crecer también significa aprender a proteger lo esencial.

What influence, idea, or reference continues to shape the way you work today?
We are deeply inspired by crafts and honest materials: Mexican architecture, earth, wood, ceramics, natural light. Also traditional cooking, where time and repetition build something profoundly human. At heart, we work with a very simple idea: well-made things don’t need too many explanations.

What place, project, or person has inspired you recently and why?
We’re inspired by projects that maintain coherence between what they do and how they do it. We’re also very inspired by people who work with their hands: farmers, coffee roasters, ceramists, bakers. They’re all part of the same chain. Every piece of bread is the result of many hands before ours.

If your space could invite someone to collaborate for a day, who would it be and what would you do together?
We’re very interested in encounters between disciplines. We would invite someone who works with material—perhaps a ceramist, an artist, or an architect—to build an ephemeral table where bread can dialogue with objects. Fresh bread out of the oven, clay pieces, coffee, and a shared table. More than an event, it would be a moment to gather around bread.

Is there an object, corner or detail of the place that has a story that few people know?
Our sourdough starter. It’s a living organism that has accompanied us since the beginning of the project, and that we feed every day. Through it we learned to work with patience and to accept that bread has its own timing. In a way, everything that happens at Corteza begins there. The starter always reminds us of something very simple: fermentation is also a form of patience.

If this project were a city, a book, or a record, which would it be and why?
It would be a city where bakeries open early and the day begins with the smell of the oven being lit. A city of quiet streets, where people walk to buy bread in the morning, where doors are open and there is always a shared table. A place where crafts still set the rhythm of the day: hands kneading dough, freshly made coffee, conversations that linger. A city where bread remains a point of encounter.

Answers by Laura Caballero, Creative Director of Corteza Pan Artesanal