Openings

Dominique Ansel Kitchen Opens Today, With ‘Tea-ramisu’ and Made-to-Order Chocolate Mousse

48-hour
48-hour “tea-ramisu”: black-tea-and-honey-soaked cake with mascarpone. Photo: Melissa Hom

There are no Cronuts at Dominique Ansel’s new West Village restaurant, but 70 percent of the menu items are made to order. This means that his cooks will cut whole vanilla beans and sprinkle them over ice cream, slice ham à la minute and wrap it around a cheese croissant, and emulsify lemon curd in a milkshake-maker before adding it to a tart. Ansel wants to subvert the expectations of a typical bakery and make this concept more like a restaurant’s kitchen.

He’s serving both savory and sweet dishes, which also include matcha beignets, sage-smoked brownies, and something called the “Egg-clipse” — squid-ink brioche with garlic mashed potatoes, two confit egg yolks, and mushroom béchamel. And come May, Ansel will launch an after-hours tasting menu on the second floor of his production kitchen, called U.P. (which stands for “unlimited possibilities”). In the meantime, take a look at what’s available today:

Made-to-order chocolate mousse.
Made-to-order chocolate mousse. Photo: Melissa Hom
Guinness Baba au Rhum: Guinness beer-soaked brioche with malt cream.
Guinness Baba au Rhum: Guinness beer-soaked brioche with malt cream. Photo: Melissa Hom
Lemon-yuzu butter tart.
Lemon-yuzu butter tart. Photo: Melissa Hom
Spring vegetable en papillote with farro: spring onions, leeks, purple potatoes, carrots, wilted lemon, soft egg, and farro with crème fraiche.
Spring vegetable en papillote with farro: spring onions, leeks, purple potatoes, carrots, wilted lemon, soft egg, and farro with crème fraiche. Photo: Melissa Hom

Menu [PDF]

Dominique Ansel Kitchen, 137 Seventh Avenue South, 212-242-5111

Dominique Ansel’s Brand-New Shop Is Open