The Exchange. November 2014

leading the conversation the exchange. november 2014 GOING, GOING, GONE Ansel holds up a tray of yellow peach and black tea Cronuts. tracked DOMINIQUE ANSEL The chef who turned the Cronut into a fetish object refuses to rest on his laurels. BY CHRISTOPHER ROSS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARTINE FOUGERON HORTLY BEFORE OPENING at 8 a.m., Dominique croissant-doughnut hybrid that has acquired a rabid opening locations for the legendary French patisserie Ansel Bakery in SoHo has the charged mood of global cult following—the James Beard Award– Fauchon, he came to New York to spend six years as the a TV show that’s about to go live. “Nine min- winning Ansel, 36, quickly found his place in New York pastry chef at Daniel. In 2011 he opened his own store utes!” chef Ansel shouts as he stalks across the City’s gastronomic firmament. Like a pastrami sand- and within months was being hailed by critics as the Sfloor, head swiveling. Brisk, white-aproned employ- wich from Katz’s or the oyster pan roast at the Grand best pastry chef in the city. ees move even more briskly. When a security guard Central Oyster Bar, his pastries have joined the foodie The popularity of the Cronut sometimes overshad- entrusted with keeping order among the customers tourist’s bucket list as customers from as far afield as ows his other, equally innovative creations, such as the waiting outside pops in, Ansel asks how many people Zimbabwe and the Philippines come to sample and DKA, a crispy, caramelized variation on a kouign- are in line; “103,” he answers before hurrying on his Instagram them. With the highly anticipated release amann; a chewy “frozen s’more” inspired by Turkish way. At 7:58 a.m. Ansel calls out, “Two minutes!” And of his debut cookbook, Dominique Ansel: The Secret ice cream; or his chocolate chip cookies shaped like then, moments before the crowd descends: “You guys Recipes, and a second location planned for Tokyo, his shot glasses and filled with milk. Even in a business of ready?” “Ready, chef!” the staff replies in unison. reach is set to extend even further. workaholics, his drive to innovate stands out: On his At eight on the dot, Ansel opens the doors. The cus- For a man who makes his living filling bellies, as feet 17 hours a day, seven days a week, Ansel keeps a tomers, some of whom have been waiting nearly two a child his own was sometimes empty. He grew up pace that assistants, staff and the occasional journalist hours, file inside, wide-eyed, chatty and sniffing the north of Paris in a poor neighborhood of Beauvais and struggle to match. His dreamy-eyed expression may air, which is fragrant with butter and caramel. dropped out of school at 16 to help support his fam- suggest a boyish wonder, but his stiff posture reflects With his invention last year of the Cronut—a ily by working in kitchens. After traveling the world the intensity of a strict disciplinarian. > wsj. magazine 81 the exchange tracked 24 hours a day that the bakery is in operation. The ovens never shut off. 4 pairs of Birkenstock clogs that Ansel typically 6:18 a.m. burns through in a year. Makes espresso, a.m. his second caffeinated bever- 6:52 age of the day. Ansel typically Live on WPIX awakens between three and Ansel shows off heart-shaped pretzels 2 four in the morning. paired with raspberry butter, debuting at an event later that day. Cronuts per walk-in customer. Apart from preorders made weeks in advance, everyone must wait in line. No exceptions. 8:00 a.m. Open for business Weekday-morning lines are reliably 600 more than a hundred people percent long. Weekend lines are even longer. Markup of Cronut prices on the black market at the height of the pastry’s popularity—$35 apiece as opposed to the retail price, $5. 8 weddings Ansel catered last year. He agrees to work with a couple only if he believes the marriage will last. 5 3:36 p.m. apples Back at the shop, go into his homemade blended Ansel samples flavors for next morning juice, along with pineapple month’s Cronut, tidies up the and a bunch of grapes. store and holds a staff meeting. 12:40 p.m. 3:58:15 Poses for pictures Ansel’s marathon time. He trained for it with model Chrissy Teigen while working at Daniel and got three and his pretzels at a DKNY hours of sleep the night before the race. event in Madison Square Park. 30 employees at the bakery. The kitchen, at 10 by 12 feet, is the smallest he’s worked in. 28,000 5:11 p.m. meals En route bought with funds raised by the Cronut to London with Cronut Project for the Food Bank for New York City, dough for a few lucky by auctioning 12 Cronuts over the course overseas fans. of six days. • 82 wsj. magazine.

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