Landmark Tenerife Pastry Shop El Artesano Closes After 40 Years

El Artesano, a well-known pastry shop and a landmark in the South, has closed after 40 years. Its owner, Sergio Hanquet, is retiring. Located in El Cabezo, this popular spot was a favourite for generations of locals, perfect for breakfast, birthday celebrations, or simply enjoying a good coffee and a chat.

Sergio Hanquet first visited Tenerife at 14 on a family holiday. He returned in 1985, aged 23, with his partner and no Spanish. He had trained in hospitality in Liege, Belgium, and started his career in Monte Carlo, working in a kitchen with 30 other chefs. After further training in Belgium and France, he spent two years as head chef at a French restaurant in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia. This was his last stop before settling permanently in southern Tenerife.

Tenerife felt like paradise to him – a seaside location where he could combine his work with his love for diving. However, starting out wasn't easy. Hanquet remembers, "The change from Tunisia was radical. I adapted quickly, but it was much harder for my partner." He initially worked as a hotel cook for several weeks to cover his stay at the Olé guesthouse in Los Cristianos and daily costs. "I soon realised my training and ambitions didn't quite fit the island," he explained. "My skills were perhaps too refined for what was needed, and we also lacked money to invest. We had to start completely from scratch."

They decided to take a risk and open a small shop in El Cabezo, an old, seaside area. The shop sold ready-made meals and special products, which seemed to fit the artisanal vibe of the neighbourhood. "We opened with very little money, and the shop still looked much like the real estate agency that was there before," Hanquet said. "But the idea didn't really catch on. People weren't used to buying lasagna, croquettes, chicken, or meat in sauce to heat or fry at home."

However, they noticed that customers loved the desserts section of their display. So, they quickly decided to focus entirely on sweets and cakes. Their big break came when the purchasing manager from the Marazul hotel visited. "He asked us to make cakes for his restaurants," Hanquet recalled, "but we couldn't do it because we didn't have the right equipment to produce that much. Then he told me to go to the hotel and collect the machinery, and we would sort out the payment later. Gérard was a very generous person, and we remember him fondly."

The deal was for one million pesetas, which was deducted from the goods the hotel bought. This included not just cakes but also pastries, which was no problem for Hanquet given his training and a recipe book from his friend and master pastry chef, Alain Massart. "That's how we started to grow and hire staff, mostly Belgian, because it was hard to find local pastry chefs then," Sergio Hanquet told this newspaper. He also found a way for his partner to join the business. "We decided to get married so she could legally work," he explained. "It was a civil ceremony in Granadilla, at one in the afternoon. It was a perfect time because it coincided with the shop's closing, and we still had to work that day to make ends meet."

With the Marazul hotel deal, El Artesano began supplying bars, restaurants, and supermarkets. However, they expanded carefully, staying grounded. "People offered us chances to open more branches, work exclusively for big companies, or take on huge contracts," Hanquet said. "But we resisted the temptation. We wanted to stick to our original idea of maintaining a good quality of life – enjoying our work without giving up our passions for diving and travel."

By avoiding fleeting food trends and sticking to their popular items like almond croissants, profiterole cakes, mille-feuilles, and brownies – all made with "care, quality, and consistency" – the beloved Los Cristianos pastry shop became a cherished part of life for generations of local families and tourists. In its final years, El Artesano supplied its products daily to around thirty other businesses.

Now retired, Sergio Hanquet is diving into his new life – a word he has often used. He's free from work, paperwork, and business duties. "It's time to enjoy the good health life has given us," he says. The sea is waiting for him.