Dominique Ansel Knows How to Party... and Celebrate His New Cookbook
Has there been a food more polarizing than the Cronut? Say what you will about the (delicious) pastry concoction, but Dominique Ansel is damn proud of his brainchild, and for good reason: It takes all that is good in a doughnut and croissant to create a convergence of pastry amazingness.
So naturally we were down to host a party celebrating Ansel's publishing debut. He's just come out with Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes, which reveals just exactly how to make your own Cronuts and kouign-amanns at home. We feted him at his book-release party last night at Ivan Ramen in the Lower East Side, which featured an astounding menu. We were wooed with and won over by herring battera-style sushi, frozen s’mores, and endless ways to drink mezcal. Even Questlove was overheard claiming that he could polish off an entire platter of Ansel's kouign-amanns if the need arose. (It apparently almost did.) And an unnamed source (OK, yours truly) may or may not have had four of the frozen s’mores before becoming incapacitated. In other words, we partied and ate like it wasn’t a Monday night.
Click through for some highlights of the party.
Alex Lau1/16Game Recognizes Game
The Roots drummer Questlove geeks out over Ansel and ramen master Ivan Orkin while Instagramming every single dish that comes out.
Alex Lau2/16Fashionably Early
Also, Questlove shows up 30 minutes before the actual start time of the party just to make sure he gets a taste of everything. If that isn’t an indicator of a good party, then we don’t know what is.
Alex Lau3/16Daikon to Go
We take our coffee to go, so why not a little Japanese radish for when you've got to run? Ivan Orkin treats us to a shaved pickled daikon with dried shrimp and scallop chili oil served in a spoon. Now if cars only came with daikon-spoon holders….
Alex Lau4/16#Selfie
A pastry-chef selfie of epic proportions: Ansel and chocolatier Jacques Torres pose for a picture.
Alex Lau5/16Holy DKAs
If there’s one thing associate restaurant editor Julia Kramer and Questlove have in common, it’s their love for DKAs, Ansel's take on kouign-amanns. It's her favorite experience of the night, while Questlove posts an Instagram of a veritable Christmas tree of DKAs, proclaiming it Ansel’s “greatest creation."
Alex Lau6/16More Mezcal, Please
Mezcal is the drink of the night, and we don’t have a problem with that.
Alex Lau7/16Breakfast for Dinner
Orkin’s take on traditional ham and eggs has us wishing it were breakfast all day long. Pictured here is scallion rice wrapped with smoked country ham, finished off with a schmear of uni.
Alex Lau8/16Cheers to the Beers
Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery, pops in for an appearance.
Alex Lau9/16Keep It Simple
Sometimes all you need is a bit of dashi and ramen to keep the party going. The rye noodles are complemented by Japanese pike-infused dashi and a slightly seared tomato.
Alex Lau10/16No Rose-Colored Glasses Needed
Bespectacled or not, Beth Kracklauer of the Wall Street Journal and Gabriella Gershenson of Every Day with Rachael Ray dive into (or Instagram) the night's noodles with wild abandon.
Alex Lau11/16Burning Love
The frozen s’more came to life sometime between the cronut and the cookie shot, and is just as strong as its compatriots. Vanilla ice cream is packed into the marshmallow, which then receives the blowtorch treatment, resulting in a golden, crunchy exterior.
Alex Lau12/16Oh, Hello, Old Friend
Epicurious restaurant editor Matt Duckor is looking suave, as usual.
Alex Lau13/16Girl with a Pearl Earring
And of course Julia Kramer makes an appearance in elegant pearls.
Alex Lau14/16Backyard Fun
When things get a little crowded, people make their way to the back porch, where people were welcomed with frozen s’mores and mezcal.
Alex Lau15/16Where's the iPhone, Daniel?
A rare snapshot of food photographer Daniel Krieger not Instagramming.
Instagram/lillisherman16/16Cronut Explosion
Yep, those are hundreds of miniature cronuts (cronut holes, if you will).
