Photos: Evan Sung

Award-winning chef Dominique Ansel announces the opening of DAW (Dominique Ansel Workshop), a French viennoiserie counter featuring croissants as the flagship product, and which is located in the heart of his pastry kitchens in Flatiron NYC. The inventor of the Cronut® explains that for him there is nothing more stimulating than the chef’s table in the kitchen “it is the best table in any restaurant not just for the guest but for the chef”, that is why he wanted to design this small workshop located in the midst of the 4,000 square feet of its pastry productions kitchens.

Here, the absolute king is the croissant, classics like the pain au chocolat and other creations with olive oil and multigrain. It is accompanied by the Breton specialty Kouign Aman and two varieties of brioche, Bressane, and huckleberry jam and rice pudding. The counter also houses a corner for savory specialties such as the tomato tarte tatin or the Crispy Molten Comté Gougère.

For Dominique Ansel, croissant dough concentrates most of the skills that fascinate him as an artisan baker. “It’s about the big things (like the weather and the seasons)  and the small things (like the temperature of the dough or the speed you mix)”.