What Dominique Ansel Eats in a Weekend
This year, Dominique Ansel became the youngest person in history to claim the title of World's Best Pastry Chef, but he has another nickname - “The Willy Wonka of NYC” - that somehow seems more fitting.
Ansel is the man responsible for viral desserts like the Cronut, a donut-croissant mash-up, and the cookie shot, a shot glass-shaped chocolate chip cookie that’s filled with vanilla bean-infused milk. And while New York has seen its fair share of hyped foodie fads, Ansel’s ingenious creations landed on another level. Not only did hundreds of customers line up outside his West Village bakery daily, eagerly awaiting a taste of the often sold-out treat, but the hysteria rose so high that scalpers were allegedly hawking the $5 Cronuts for $50 on the black market. Time Magazine ultimately even named the Cronut one of The 25 Best Inventions of 2013.
Since then, the Cronut king, who cut his teeth at Fauchon in France and Daniel in New York, has grown a global empire, which extends from New York City to London to Tokyo. (Later this year, he’ll also be opening his first full-fledged restaurant in Los Angeles).
So, you might wonder what Ansel, who has been delighting taste buds for years, fuels himself with. Here's a look at what he consumed over the course of a recent weekend in LA.
Day One
First stop: Joan’s on Third. It’s a beautiful spot that’s great for breakfast or a mid-day pick-me-up. I got their Ficelle sandwich, with slices of apricot-glazed ham and double-cream fromage d’affinois on a thin baguette that’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
This beautiful year-round sunshine is something I’m never tired of, especially coming off of a cloudy, rainy week in New York. Next, I headed out to the Santa Monica Pier and walked along the boardwalk with a cup of freshly sliced mango and pineapple with chili and a squeeze of lime juice, while the ocean waves crashed below me.
Dinner is at Otium, Tim Hollingsworth’s place downtown. They’re doing some really creative dishes with ingredients and flavor combinations that you don’t see very often. We ordered a few pastas - trecce pasta with beef ragout, fresh ricotta, and carrots, and a beautiful squid ink bucatini with smoked butter, octopus braised with kimchee, and crispy fried shallots. We ordered a side of crispy potatoes with spicy crème fraîche, too - it was buttery and creamy on the inside, crispy and salty on the outside. Delicious!
Day Two
First, we headed to Petit Trois. I love what Ludo, Jon, and Vinny are doing in their restaurants. I order an omelet. It’s something I often do when I go out for breakfast or brunch - there’s something so simple yet so satisfying about a properly cooked omelet. It seems easy, but making a perfect one is all in the technique of cooking the eggs gently and slowly (and with plenty of butter) until they’re just right. And Ludo’s is just that - soft and fluffy, with a hunk of creamy boursin cheese and fresh chives to finish.
I couldn’t make a trip to L.A. without a stopover at Pink’s. There are so many options and I couldn’t decide, so I ordered three different hot dogs - mushroom Swiss with a slick of mayo, a Chicago Polish Dog with mustard, briny relish, onions, lettuce, and tomatoes (I got the spicy option, too), and a jalapeño dog, topped with tomatoes, chili, grilled onions, lettuce, guacamole, and crispy bacon.
I still have room for dinner, so it’s over to Gwen, Curtis Stone’s restaurant on Sunset. It’s a beautiful space, with steaks cooked perfectly. It’s also part-restaurant and part-butcher shop, so you can also pick out gorgeous cuts of meat, charcuterie, terrines, and more to take home.
Day Three
I took a red-eye back home to New York to ready for the busy week ahead. But first, I headed to Bar Pitti in the Village. I ordered the pollastrello, tender and juicy roasted chicken that’s marinated for 24 hours. A squeeze of fresh lemon on top, a side of roasted potatoes, and I’m happy.
The rest of the day is full of recipe testing with the team at Dominique Ansel Kitchen in the West Village. First up is fraises des bois pavlovas that we have each weekend when the berries are in season (just a few weeks each year). They’re overnighted to us from Malaga, Spain. One of my favorite pastries every year.
Then we move on to a soft serve tasting. We’ve got two flavors to start - burrata soft serve, with balsamic caramel, micro basil, and confit strawberry, as well as cold brew soft serve, topped with milk foam, dusted with cocoa powder, and finished with a crunchy twice-baked anise biscotti.
We’ll change up the second flavor each month, so testing has been a lot of fun. We did white peach with salted pistachios and lavender honey for July, and we're chocolate olive oil with fig agrodolce and sea salt for August.
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