Eat Here Now: Dominique Ansel Kitchen

If you only know Dominique Ansel as 'the guy who made the Cronut,' you should probably start educating yourself. Lucky for you, the perfect place to do so is at his new restaurant, Dominique Ansel Kitchen. The pastry chef is once again changing the NYC food world with his new West Village restaurant, giving us a taste of his skills in the savory department as well. You can choose from the confusing, complex squid ink brioche toast or stick with something simple like Ansel's version of a Croque Monsieur or the rich, buttery garlic bread croissant.
Also, all the items on the menu are so f*cking beautiful that you'll want to stare at them forever once they get to your table-but you can't! The motto at his new restaurant is, "time is an ingredient," meaning most things on the menu are made fresh to order. Basically what that means is that you should be biting into your fresh chocolate sea salt madeleines as soon as you get them in order to experience their crunchy, salty exteriors and soft, fluffy centers studded with surprise pockets of hot melted chocolate, not spending ten minutes trying to get the perfect Insta pic. So go taste for yourself what Dominique Ansel is capable of other than just a fried, filled ring of croissant dough. 

Squid Ink Brioche Toast

This warm toast is topped with creamy mashed potatoes, injected with mushroom béchamel, and topped with confit eggs and some Parmesan cheese. It's not too big, which is perfect because it's super decadent. The mashed potatoes are smooth and creamy, and they lend an interesting and wonderful texture to the crunchy squid ink brioche toast. The mushroom béchamel adds even more creaminess and doesn't have an overwhelmingly mushroom flavor at all. All together with the runny egg yolks and salty Parmesan cheese on top is just the perfect bite. Definitely get one of these. 

Garlic Bread Croissant

Imagine the most perfect croissant- crunchy on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside, flakes flying everywhere with each bite. Now drizzle that with rosemary olive oil and spread on a roasted garlic clove. Now imagine it warm. A must order.

Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding with Crème Fraîche 

This was pretty good, but I'm really into sticky toffee pudding. It's warm, it has a subtle date flavor, a drizzle of strong and sweet toffee, and a puddle of melty, creamy crème fraîche sitting on top. Order it if you love sticky toffee pudding too, if not, you can probably pass on this one. 

Lemon Yuzu Butter Tart 

This was the one that every staff member said was their favorite when we asked. It was the one that was all over Instagram. Maybe it was just me, but I was not feeling it. At all. The lemon yuzu filling was strange in that it was too sweet and too acidic at the same time. Also, the ratio of crust to filling was totally out of whack, which sucked because the crust was like a super crunchy, super flavorful sugar cookie. More crust, please!

Brown Sugar DKA

What is a DKA, exactly? It stands for Dominique's kouign-amann, duh! But what is a kouign-amann? It's like a croissant-bread hybrid, made with ridiculous amounts of butter and sugar, making the final outcome taste like a dense, caramelized croissant. Ansel sells these at his bakery, but the one's he sells here are made with brown sugar, lending a darker, deeper, richer flavor. You'll be dreaming of these.

Mini Matcha Beignets

Eat these the second they get to your table. They're fresh from the fryer and have a light dusting of matcha powder on top. They could use a little more matcha, but other than that they're absolutlely perfect. Crunchy, fluffy and light. You need them.

Chocolate Sea Salt Madeleines

If matcha isn't your thing, get these instead. Another dish you should be eating immediately, these mini cakes are best when they're still slightly crunchy on the outside and the pools of melted chocolate inside are still hot. 

XL Croque Monsieur 

A huge, cheesy, creamy sandwich that will make you want to lay in bed for the rest of the day. The edges of the sandwich are super crispy from the cheese, and the middle absorbs most of the béchamel sauce, making the bread super soft, but in no way soggy. Together, with the perfectly smokey ham, it makes the perfect lunch or dinner or whatever. Be warned, though, this thing is huge, so come hungry, or split it with a friend.