Chef Dominique Ansel doesn’t dream about pastry, but that’s because he requires little sleep. The French-born master of flaky cakes and creamy confections thinks about his work constantly. It’s more productive preoccupation than obsession, a dedication to craft that is all-consuming and part of Ansel’s destiny. How could he not optimize the ingredients of ability, vision and opportunity presented to him by the machinations of fate?
Ansel is, of course, the creator of the Cronut. The hybrid of croissant and donut debuted in New York City a decade ago. One bite of the November edition at his Caesars Palace shop, Dominique Ansel Las Vegas, validates all heraldry, its creamy filling of tiramisu and espresso ganaches generating palate pleasure on a scale that makes previous dessert experiences also-rans at best.
Dominique Ansel Bakery, where the Cronut was conceived, opened 12 years ago this year. The iconic invention came to be after Ansel’s girlfriend, now his wife and business partner, asked him to create a donut for Mother’s Day.
“I’m French. I had no recipe for donuts,” says Ansel, who only had four employees at the time. “She insisted enough that I ended up doing something. Or course I grew up eating croissants. I loved the idea of having the layer of croissant in a donut shape, and I worked on something that didn’t work well in the beginning, but I knew was a good idea.”
A lot of New Yorkers thought it was a good idea, too. It took time and many revisions for Ansel to be satisfied, but the Cronut went viral quickly after its debut. Customers came in droves.
“We made 35 the first day, next day we made 45,” recalls Ansel. By the third day, some 150 people lined up before the bakery opened. “It was stressful. Worrisome. People were not happy. People were complaining, but it’s New York.”
There are more than enough Cronuts to make customers happy at Dominique Ansel Las Vegas. The dining area and displays are immaculate, save for the flakes of pastry that inevitably fall on the white tables and the floor. Ansel’s popular DKA, a Breton butter cake with caramelized crispy crust, is easy to find alongside chocolate tacos and pie slices in seasonal flavors of Extra-Silky Pumpkin and Bourbon Pecan.
The gooey, ganache-filled Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich and Banana Split are more multilayer experiences than dessert, while Cookie Shots capable of holding Bailey’s Irish Cream are served with precision by a robot at the entrance of the shop.
Precision guides Ansel’s hand and gives him the discipline to accomplish, but it’s the reaction to his results that inspire him. “Food has the power to bring you back to a moment in time. It connects you with emotions, with people,” he says, recalling a frozen s’mores item, fashioned for a summer menu, that was torched in front of customers before being served. “You hand it to them, and they bite into it and see marshmallow, and they smile. They’re like kids again.”
Caesars Palace, 702.731.7865
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