Lluís Pérez has always liked to work with his hands. Maybe that's why it's not hard for him to confess that since he opened his own business in 2015 he misses spending more time in the bakery and less time taking charge of all the tasks that come with being an entrepreneur. And when you talk to him, you immediately realize that management and creativity, passion and entrepreneurship, are constantly striving for balance. He himself acknowledges this, sitting at a table in his beautiful premises: "The business side kills creativity. For me it's an internal struggle, but it's true that I'm learning and evolving in every sense, and in this one too”.
Learning and evolution are two key words here. When the young Lluís Pérez finished his high school studies, he entered the School of Hotel Management of the Balearic Islands, where he was trained. Afterwards, he began to work in Oriol Balaguer's team and it was then, at the hand of the Catalan pastry chef, when he immersed himself in a bakery that would determine his future.
In Barcelona the doors were opened to a world that he did not know, because "in Mallorca the pastry culture is mainly based on elaborations such as cakes and pastries. With Balaguer I learned very different pastry techniques," he explains. However, Lluís is creative by nature, so instead of confronting these two traditions, he plays with the traditional Mallorcan recipe book and combines traditional recipes with pastry techniques. "I try to integrate symbols of Mallorcan sweet cuisine such as gató, cuarto or coca de patata in my creations. For example, the hazelnut and chocolate cake has a gató filling," he explains.
"Mallorca is my home and I want to transmit its essence in what I do".
In fact, this confectioner's respect and affection for Mallorca is noticeable (and savored) in everything he does and how he does it. "Mallorca is my home and I want to transmit its essence in what I do". To fulfill this purpose, Pérez tries to ensure that most of the raw materials he uses in his bakery are from the island: the almonds, fruit, olive oil and fresh milk used in his creations are from here. However, he also recognizes that with some ingredients it is more complicated, "that's why I use French butter from green pasture cows. For me, quality is above all else, so I choose each ingredient with care to achieve the result I have set out to achieve".
In this quest for excellence, there have also been compromises, albeit temporary ones. Perez dispenses with artificial colorings even though this decision has limited his offer, especially in his early days. "We didn't offer macarons even though it was a product that people asked for a lot. We didn't do it because we didn't want to use artificial ingredients, so we started working with the team to find natural solutions and now we prepare them with dried fruit, which gives us colorful pigments," she says. Dehydrated fruit, Mallorcan almonds, Sóller oranges, Porreres apricots and fleur de sel d'Es Trenc are some of the ingredients of these French snacks that, once again, mix pastry making and local produce.
Although the store is in Bonaire street, Lluís Pérez Pastisser's workshop is in es Fortí, not far from here. It is in the bakery where Pérez has his office, although he admits that he would like to spend less time in the office and more time with his hands in the dough, creating new proposals. "I'm very restless. I always have ideas and projects in mind. For example, I would like to change the menu more often, revise the packaging, communicate the creation process better... Sometimes I feel that there is a bit of lack of control, so I try to focus".
Eight people currently work in the bakery. There they prepare the pastries and baked goods that they deliver to the store and cafeterias, as well as their now famous hamburger bread (which they serve to restaurants on the island) and special orders for hotels and all kinds of events.
"Every day is a challenge. If I had to choose one word to sum up these seven years it would be evolution".
Despite this somewhat frenetic pace, Pérez has taken the time to create his own version of the Tianet and submit it to the competition organized by the Palma City Council, whose mission was to find the emblematic cake of Sant Sebastià, patron saint of the city. Inspired by the potato coca, but made with carob and oranges from Sóller, Lluís has once again combined tradition, innovation and local produce in a winning bid.
When asked how he would define his journey from 2015 until today, Lluís snorts shyly and thinks just a few seconds before answering: "I would say that it has been and is an adventure and that every day is a challenge. If I had to choose one word to sum it all up, I would choose evolution".
Despite this constant creative back-and-forth, in his hands and in his head, Lluís turns serious and, before saying goodbye, he reflects: "I value very much what I have achieved, but I am also learning to be more present, to be more aware of the time I have and the time it takes to do things the way I like them: well done". Again, the balance between the creator and the entrepreneur; between creativity and precision; between the inevitable constant change and the pleasure of enjoying the process.
