Dominique Ansel Workshop in NYC

Note: The photos in this post are from last February (2022). I never got around to posting the photos at the time, but better late than never! Please keep in mind that the availability, quality, and pricing of the baked goods may have changed since my visit.

Dominique Ansel Workshop is the latest NYC venture of Chef Dominique Ansel, who is best known for inventing the Cronut and who was named as the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017. His original bakery location in Soho holds a lot of memories for me—although I’m no longer the biggest Cronut fan, I have fond memories of waking up at 4 to join the Cronut line in 2013 (see the bottom of this post for some vintage photos). However, this post is about Chef Ansel’s new flagship location in Flatiron, which opened in July 2021 and specializes in viennoiseries.

Brioche Bressane ($9.50), Pistachio Roll ($6.50), Raspberry & Riz au Lait Cube ($6.00)

Of the five items I tried, my favorites were the Raspberry & Riz au Lait Cube ($6.00) and the Olive Oil Croissant ($5.00). But here’s everything I tried.

The Brioche Bressane ($9.50) was filled with crème fraîche and scented with orange blossom water and some star anise. I liked the soft fluffy brioche, but the creme fraîche filling felt like I was eating pure butter. It’s on the larger side compared to the other viennoiseries, as you can see from the above photo—it serves 1–2 people.

The Pistachio Roll ($6.50) is made with laminated brioche, filled with pistachio pistachio frangipane, and topped with a pistachio praline and toasted Sicilian pistachios. The roll had a crisp, flaky top with a soft interior. The pistachio filling was quite sweet, but there wasn’t much filling relative to the brioche dough, so it wasn’t overwhelming. Not bad but not outstanding.

The Raspberry & Riz au Lait Cube ($6.00) was my favorite of the sweet items. It’s filled with fresh raspberry jam (too sweet for me) and Riz au Lait made with Arborio rice (delicious). Note: The current (March 2023) cube is a $7 Coconut & Dulce de Leche Riz au Lait Cube.

The Olive Oil Croissant ($5.00) is made with cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and has a hint of rosemary and garlic. It was quite tasty: I liked the strong olive oil flavor and scent. The croissant texture was light inside with a crisp, flaky crust.

Finally, the Brown Sugar DKA (“Dominique’s Kouign Amann”) ($6.00) is a variation of Chef Ansel’s signature DKA, made with dark brown sugar instead. I thought it was just OK: I wish it had a deeper caramelized and that the crust were crispier or more caramelized. I remember having my mind blown when I first tried the original DKA in 2013, but I didn’t have the same experience with the brown sugar version (though this may be due to having more pastry experience now).

At least as of last year, Chef Ansel himself was sometimes in this flagshop workshop. So if you’re lucky, you may run into him during your visit!

Finally, some photos from 2013! The first one is a fig and mascarpone Cronut (September 2013) and a Magic Souffle (I was the first customer to purchase this ever!). The second is a caramelized-apple Cronut (Oct 2013), a gingerbread pinecone, a DKA, and a pumpkin cranberry tart.