Dominique Ansel, the celebrated French pastry chef and owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York, has revolutionized the world of pastry with innovative creations like the Cronut, the Frozen S'more, and the Cookie Shot, earning international recognition and numerous awards.
Biography
Dominique Ansel was born in 1977 in Beauvais, a small city north of Paris, France. Raised in a working-class family, he began working in a restaurant at the age of 16 to contribute to the household income. He later trained at a local culinary school, where he learned the basics of cooking and pastry, gravitating towards the precision required to craft exquisite desserts. After serving in the French Guiana military, where he taught cooking classes, he worked in various pastry shops in Paris, including an eight-year stint at Fauchon. In 2006, he moved to the United States and worked as the executive pastry chef at Daniel, Daniel Boulud’s restaurant in New York.
In November 2011, he opened Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo, Manhattan. It was here that he created the Cronut in 2013, a hybrid between a croissant and a doughnut that became a global phenomenon and was named one of the best inventions of the year by Time Magazine. He continued to innovate the dessert landscape with other popular creations like the Frozen S'more, the Cookie Shot, and the Blossoming Hot Chocolate. In 2021, he also launched Dominique Ansel Workshop in Flatiron, a pastry lab offering fresh croissants and viennoiserie. In 2022, he opened Dominique Ansel Las Vegas at Caesars Palace.
Ansel has received numerous awards, including the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in the United States in 2014 and the title of World's Best Pastry Chef in 2017 by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. His philosophy is based on creating an emotional connection with people through food. His desserts often originate from personal memories, seasonal ingredients, artistic inspirations, and architectural influences. Besides being a chef and a pastry chef, he is also a best-selling author, having published cookbooks such as "Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes" and "Everyone Can Bake". In his little spare time, he declares himself a gardening enthusiast.
