Dominique Ansel Kitchen and Bakery, NYC

Baked goods.  Desserts.  Ice cream.  Some of my all time favorite things, and all signature items at the famous Dominique Ansel establishments in New York.

If you lived under a rock in 2013, or didn't pay attention to the baked goods scene, perhaps you missed out on the most famous item produced by Chef Dominique Ansel: the cronut.  Yup, the cronut, the croissant-donut hybrid, that took the country by storm and skyrocketed Dominique Ansel into culinary celebrity status (which, to be fair, is also due to his success as a James Beard winning, work at Michelin starred restaurants, etc).  But the cronut was his big rise to fame.

Hot off the heels of the cronut was another creation: the DKA.  Dominique's Kouign Amann.  While he didn't create the glorious kouign amann, he certainly perfected it.  Like the cronut, it quickly got a cult following, and required reservations in advance.

I had many imposter cronuts and kouign amann over the years, and in the summer of 2019, I finally got to try the later.  I had mediocre expectations, given the hype, but ... well, it lived up.  And it isn't just because a kouign amann is delicious by nature (which, it is), but, well, he really did master this namesake item.

Update Review, Dominique Ansel Bakery, August 2024

My offices have a regular donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts every week, from the place of their choice (hence why I have so many donuts!).  When I was visiting my NY office, my amazing coworker decided to up the ante and go to Dominique Ansel Bakery for cronuts, not just regular donuts from any nearby shop.  I was thrilled to say the least. 

Cronut Box.

I realized when I saw the box, that I think this was my first ever actual Dominique Ansel cronut.  I'd had the DKA, and other goodies, a few years prior (review below), but not the actual signature cronut. 

"This pastry has a short shelf-life and should not be consumed after 8 hours of pick up."

I appreciate that they don't even say, "best within 8 hours", nope, its literally, "should not be consumed" when it is more than 8 hours old.  #standards.

Guava & Coconut Cronut.
 (August Monthly Flavor).

"Filled with tropical guava jam and creamy coconut ganache."

Dominique Ansel Bakery produces only one flavor each month, and it rotates monthly.  During my visit, it was guava & coconut.  Warning: those who do not like guava need to just move on.  This isn't for you.  But if you like guava, and fruity things, this certainly delivered.  So. Much. Guava.

The cronut base itself was the least interesting part to me.  As a caveat, I will say that I had it at 7pm, so definitely not as fresh as it should be.  It was well coated in sugar, and the layers were nice, but it was soft and not flaky.  Again, I suspect this was a freshness thing, as it was end of day, and had been in the fridge.  The pastry though was really not the star of the show anyway.  The other elements were the strong players, particularly the gauva, that was clearly MVP.

Inside there was a generous amount of guava jam.  Very thick, very fruity, very intense guava jam.  It was tropical and very summer appropriate.  Fairly sweet.  And on top, a thicker-than-expected coating of guava (and coconut?) icing.  It was really quite sweet, and again, very fruity and very guava forward.  A bit too sweet for me after all that jam too.  The coconut ganache was harder to find, less of it, and less strongly flavored, but I appreciated the creamy element it added.

Overall, I was very glad to try this.  The guava was a showstopper, and I wish I'd been able to actually try it fresh.  ***+.

Original Review, Dominique Ansel Kitchen, September 2021

In SF, I've tried all the "famous" local versions of kouign amann, such as the decent but average one from Starter Bakery, the much better one from b. patisserie, and the not-so-good one from Firebrand.  I've also had several from the oldest pastry shop in Paris (Stohrer), a fantastic version turned into a formal dessert at Clio in Boston, and, a memorable take home treat from an incredible meal at the (now closed) Cyrus in Napa.  I've had great kouign amann, ones that, at the time, I declared the best ever.  But the DKA ... yup, it blew them away.

Setting

The shop has an ice cream window outside to streamline those orders, and inside is the bakery counter (with everything on display!) and seating.

Ice Cream Window.

Another one of Dominique Ansel's well known creation is the soft serve.  Yup, the ice cream.  And you know how much I love my soft serve.

I was pretty excited to try the burrata soft serve, as, well, I do love burrata, and I loved the sound of the microbasil in it (I've had fabuous basil ice cream before), and the strawberry confit ... but, alas, the other flavor was What-A-Melon, which uses real watermelon, AND is served in a carved out watermelon rind, and thus ... danger, danger, danger for me, given my life threatening watermelon allergy.  I couldn't take the risk to order the other soft serve.

On another visit, they only had a cold brew flavor, and it wasn't very good, really, quite icy.  If you want great soft serve in New York, there are plenty of other places to get it, like Big Gay Ice Cream right around the corner, or my fav for the incredible ube soft serve (with halo halo toppings no less!), Soft Swerve.

Seating.

The seating area is tastefully decorated, and I appreciated all the floral touches.

Bakery Counter

Of course, most people go to Dominique Ansel Kitchen for the stunning, and unique, pastries and desserts.  All are on full display, tempting you as you want in the generally long line to place your order.

Baked Goods.

The array of tempting looking baked goods is extensive, ranging from thick cookies, to all kinds of filled croissants (including some unexpected versions like garlic confit, Nutella, and almond lavender), to the oh-so-notoriously hard to make canelé.  I honestly wanted to try nearly all of them.

More Baked Goods.

There were also some simple classics, like a plain or ham & cheese croissant for the traditionalists, and the cinnamon spun roll jumped out at me too.  Even the brownies had an interesting element to them, incorporating smoked sage.

Desserts.

And then ... the even more stunning creations, the desserts.
 

This section also showed models of the made-to-order items, like the a la minute mousse, the baked to order hazelnut madelines, nad the freshly made "Ultimate" S'more.

Beautiful Creations.

Every item was stunning, expertly made, and full of little twists.  I don't even like pavlova that much, but the brown sugar orange pavlova was gorgeous, just like the grapefruit honey tart, again, tarts aren't usualy what I go for, but these looked, and sounded, fascinating.

4th of July Religieuse.

The banana cream pie looked downright incredible, and, because it was 4th of July, the religieuse took a festive slant, decked out like Uncle Sam.  Oh, and the cheesecake?  Certainly not slouch, it was made with black truffle honey.

Retail.

The packaged retail section also includes some take-home items, like housemade granola or burnt caramel popcorn (which you know I almost grabbed, given my love of popcorn!)

Food

I would gladly have ordered a savory meal, or any of the breakfast items, or grabbed a slew of things to take home, but, alas, this visit was directly after visiting Big Gay Ice Cream one last time, and I was literally on my way to the airport from there.  Thus, I had restraint, and only got the one thing: the signature DKA.  I mean, I had no other choice, right?

Brown Sugar DKA. $5.50.

“Dominique’s Kouign Amann”: Our signature pastry made with brown sugar, similar to a “caramelized croissant,” flaky and caramelized on the outside with tender layers on the inside."

I could tell just by inspection that this kouign amann was in a league of its own.  The caramelization on the exterior was noticeable from a distance.  This is *clearly* unlike any generic bakery kouign amann.  But, I have had good koiugn amann before too.

My standards were set high.

I took a tentative bite.  Yes, wow, that was crispy.  So crispy.  So rich.  This is clearly a special item.

Bottom: That caramelization!!!!

Turning it over revealed even more ridiculous caramelized goodness.  It looked like the top of a crème brûlée!

I can safely say, on the caramelization dimension alone, this is the best I've ever had. 

At this point, I expected a good, crispy kouign amann.  Nicely layered, very rich, decadent treat.  Which it was.  I also expected, a slightly more interesting flavor, from the use of brown sugar, which isn't as standard.  And, that was there as well.

This was a good kouign amann.

But I still didn't know to expect what I found ... inside.

Inside: So gooey!

Yes, inside.  Among the crispy layers, a gooey pocket of sugary goodness.  Now *this* was unique.  I've had filled kouign amann before, usually chocolate filled, sometimes with creams or fruits, but this?  Unexpected, and I loved the quality it added to the treat.

So yes, this was an excellent treat.  Far more caramel forward than most, sweeter, and richer as as result.  While I'll eat a kouign amann for breakfast sometimes, this one I wouldn't really find breakfast appropriate.  It was just *too* much.  Actually.  

****, I still enjoyed it very much, and I think it would be lovely with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to help temper the sweet richness (they do serve it as an ice cream sandwich, but with salted caramel ice cream, which I think would be just too much).

I don't feel the need to get this again though - given my limited time in New York, I have too many other things to explore.