Interview with Dominique Ansel
Interview with Dominique Ansel
The Genius Behind the Cronut®: An Interview with James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel
“It's been almost ten years since we first launched the Cronut, and if you had told me ten years ago that this would happen, I would have never believed you.”
Dominique Ansel, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef, has revolutionized the pastry industry with his incredible innovation and creativity. Among his most famous creations is the Cronut®, which has taken the world by storm and become one of the most coveted pastries worldwide, earning a spot on TIME Magazine's "25 Best Inventions of 2013" list.
Dominique's remarkable accomplishments include being named the World's Best Pastry Chef in 2017 by the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards, among numerous other accolades. His bakery, Dominique Ansel Bakery, located in New York City's trendy Soho neighborhood, has become a must-visit for locals and tourists alike. In addition to his bakery, Dominique has authored several books, including The Secret Recipes and Everyone Can Bake.
What or who influenced you the most during the beginning of your culinary career?
I've had a few mentors and teachers over the years. Christophe Adam, with whom I worked at Fauchon in Paris, taught me the building blocks of pastry techniques and how to perfect them. Daniel Boulud, whom I worked for at Restaurant Daniel when I first moved to New York, taught me how to be an entrepreneur and the importance of customer service and taking care of your guests.
In your opinion, what can culinary educators do to best influence their students?
Be honest with them. The culinary and hospitality industry is challenging work with long hours, requiring physical and mental strength. For young culinary students and people just starting in the field, those early years can be the most demanding, but sticking to it and pushing themselves will lead to great things.
What would you change in the culinary education system?
The experience of stage-ing (working in restaurant kitchens) can be invaluable. The balance between time spent learning in a classroom curriculum and giving students more opportunities to intern or stage is essential. We've found that for many of our cooks and chefs, having real-life experience in a fast-paced kitchen environment while studying in school helps them become well-rounded students.
Why did the Cronut become so viral, in your opinion?
To this day, I'm still not entirely sure. It's been almost ten years since we first launched the Cronut, and if you had told me ten years ago that this would happen, I would have never believed you. We change our menus frequently, and we wanted to create something special for Mother's Day. After about two months of testing and ten different recipes, we decided to call it a Cronut - something that resembled a donut but was made with a laminated dough with beautifully flaky layers. A blogger friend of ours took a photo and two days later, there were 150 people in line outside (and we still had only four employees).
We change the Cronut flavor every month, never repeating, and we've had guests who have tried every flavor since the beginning, couples who met in line, and even wedding proposals in line. It's been fantastic, but I didn't want this creation to stifle our creativity, so we kept on creating and developing new things. Soon after, we launched the Cookie Shot, the Frozen S'more, Blossoming Hot Chocolate, and more, and we will continue to do so.
What's a fun culinary fact about you?
I love to cook Taiwanese food. My wife is Taiwanese, and she's taught me all the classics over the years. Now, when I'm not in the kitchen, it's what I love to cook at home for her and our son.