Tag Archives: dominique ansel

wd~Ansel Egg Bake from Chefs Dominique Ansel and Wylie Dufresne

18 Jan

I am coming out of baby-hiding for a moment to put up a quick post about my awesome day today. I was following Dominique Ansel’s Instagram and saw that he was teaming up with Wylie Dufresne to do something special for this long weekend. And then they posted a teaser and then, a few days later, this description: soft scrambled eggs with a confit egg yolk, homemade cheese (a la Wylie), black truffle, bacon, and maple flakes, served on a smoked English muffin, with extra crisp truffled hash browns on the side.

How could I not go? So today, on the 3rd and last day of this special, I left the baby with the nanny and took advantage of my day off to brave the chill and head downtown with 2 fellow food adventure seeking friends.

We ordered (surprisingly quickly, even though it was packed, the line was contained to inside the very small space) and as we were waiting for our food, Dominique Ansel brought out Wylie Dufresne and thanked him for the collaboration, and then they posed for some photos. So of course I got one!

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As did our friend Mike (his fiancé, Wendy, was saving our seats so she didn’t get in on the action, but thanks again, Wendy, for being awesome!)

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And then, it was time to eat!

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The sandwich itself was pretty good. I wish that the consistency made it a bit easier to eat and enjoy, but that hash brown was sensational. And the egg was pretty sexy when we cut through it.

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But then my favorite part… the dessert…

I finally got to try the Ultimate S’more I’ve been eyeing: Speculoos cookies, shards of Maldon sea salt chocolates, a dark chocolate ganache with Cabin Fever whiskey, Caramelia-covered puff rice, and one gigantic all honey marshmallow.

The marshmallow is a piece of baking perfection and the little shards of sea salt made those bites into absolute bliss.

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We also tried the butter lemon tart and lavender grapefruit tart (pictured above). Both were really great. I just love Dominique’s dessert creations.

And then, to top it all off, Dominique posted one of his famous AnSelfies with his customers (who he never fails to humbly acknowledge) and I hit my pinnacle of coolness:

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Another awesome day, thanks to the incredible Dominique Ansel.

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Top Noms of 2014

1 Jan

Every year, we compile our favorite meals of the previous 12 months.  (For previous years, check here: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009). It is always hard to choose the best, and this year especially so when 2013 ended with our number one meal of all time at Alinea in Chicago, and then 2014 started with the previous #1 (and still #1 in NYC), Eleven Madison Park for the second time.   But enough about previous tops, and onto the tops of 2014:

As for great food that weren’t specific restaurants, I had an incredible experience at the New York Magazine Taste Event, getting to sample a bite from some of the best restaurants around the city. My favorite recipe that I shared (and have now baked over and over again) was the Nutella Stuffed Salted Chocolate Cookies (note: I have since removed the caramels and find the recipe is perfect even without this extra indulgence).  And then my favorite day of the year is the day we went on a veritable treasure hunt around NYC to #followtherabbit to get free cronuts and cookie shots from Dominique Ansel in honor of his cookbook launch.  What an amazing time!

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As for our top 10 Restaurants of 2014…

#10: The NoMad Bar

We had a great meal at The NoMad (#5 on the Top Noms of 2013) and we were excited to see that they launched a slightly more casual (and very sexy) “Bar” version.  We have since been back a few times and each time we enjoy the food and the cocktails, which are very expensive but some of the best in the city. It’s hard to beat as a place to impress guests or a date.

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#9: Carbone

We had heard the rumbling about the new restaurant from Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, Carbone. The buzz about the Veal Parm was especially loud, referencing the ridiculous price ($54) and the equally ridiculous deliciousness.  The veal was certainly delicious, but it was actually the amazing pasta dishes that pushed this into the top 10.

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#8: Brunch at DBGB

We were surprised at how much we enjoyed brunch at DBGB, though I really shouldn’t have been since I have always been a big fan of David Boulud restaurants. We have enjoyed ourselves at many including Boulud Sud (#6 on the 2012 Top Noms List) Daniel (#3 on the 2011 Top Noms List), Cafe Boulud (#5 on the Top Restaurant Week list), and Bar Boulud (a favorite brunch spot).   Our brunch at DBGB was with a big group and everyone left raving about the food, and the French Toast was the best I’ve ever had.

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#7: Root & Bone Opening

We had a great time at the pop-up preview of Root & Bone in 2013 and then visited the new permanent location in the East Village during the first few weeks of opening.  It was opened by Top Chef alums Jeffrey McInnis and Janine Booth and brought us the fried chicken that no one can stop talking about. I loved the corn dish (which combined “Grilled Sweet Corn Cob… Husk and All” with cornbread butter, giant hominy, and popped corn) though I’ve heard that it’s not as consistent from other reviewers. I also adored the short rib meat loaf. I loved that the menu had a lot of memorable dishes that were a little bit different.

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#6: Bodega Negra at the Dream Hotel

Another surprising meal was at Bodega Negra in Chelsea.  Perhaps it’s because I don’t get to eat Mexican food very often due to my allergy, so this was novel.  But the dessert alone put this squarely in the top 10 and it was an incredibly memorable meal. (Video of the dessert’s metamorphosis here)

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#5: Decoy: Peking Duck Dinner

I love a Peking Duck dinner. Something about that crispy duck with all the fixins wrapped in the little pancakes just make me happy. But this dinner was pretty epic in that not only was the duck dinner included, but also 4 small plates, 2 main dishes, and 1 fried rice or side dish.  The grilled wagyu beef pieces are still a taste memory stuck on repeat in my brain and it’s a great meal to share with food loving friends.

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#4: all’onda

A restaurant I have recommended again and again is all’onda. Eater called it the biggest restaurant opening of 2014 and we could not disagree.  Each dish was very unique and had a special flare to it that everyone really enjoyed.  We loved the sea urchin pasta (which I think has gone off and on the menu a few times depending on availability) and I still think of the arancini balls with beautiful squid ink rice.

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#3: Sushi Nakazawa

What a surprise! Mike made an impressive choice for my surprise birthday dinner and our meal was fantastic from start to finish.  A whole lot of chef chosen sushi in the Omikase, with the uni that will forever leave me chasing that uni dragon.  Do yourself a favor and make a reservation, be sure to watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi before you go, and then visit this restaurant to taste what Chef Daisuke Nakazawa learned after a 10-year apprenticeship at one of the best sushi restaurants in Japan.

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#2: Per Se

After quite the exciting meal at The French Laundry during out honeymoon, it was hard to resist trying Per Se on our first wedding anniversary. I was excited just to be in this NYC institution, and I could not wait to wrap my tongue around the Oysters and Pearls dish again, a tiny bowl of heaven that is famous in both locations.  While still not as great as other restaurants we have loved, it was undeniable why this is commonly referred to as one of the best (and most special) restaurants in New York City. The meal was perfect (just like our French Laundry meal) but not quite as creative as some of our favorites.  Still #2 for the year!

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#1: Liquid Art House

The surprise of the year. I went to Boston on business but was able to spend my first night in the city with a good friend.  A quick search of top restaurants in the city near the Boston Back Bay station led me to Liquid Art House.  The space opened in May of this year and it was incredible and impressive with art hung like a gallery.  The food is also a work of art on each plate.  Usually you expect food that beautiful to be more aesthetic than substance, but the food absolutely, 100% delivered.  Each flavor was incredible and the ingredients were so fresh.  I was actually suffering extensively from morning sickness during this meal, but I managed to enjoy every single bite. I wish I had room for dessert, because I can only imagine what creations they came up with, but I left this meal in awe of how much I enjoyed it. I also just found out that Chef Stacy Cogswell from the current season of Top Chef (the Boston native) just came into the kitchen under Executive Chef Rachel Klein.  Since we do love our Top Cheftestant restaurants, I look forward even more to bringing Mike back to try this place as soon as we can make a trip back to Boston.

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Another incredible year of eats!  I cannot help but reflect back on how fortunate we are that we get to live this life.  We joke that our biggest fear for our baby is that he will not love food. But I have to think that can’t possibly be feasible with us as parents. We just love this way too much.

Thanks for another great year!

Onto the adventures of 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The day we decided to #followtherabbit for a free Dominque Ansel Cronut and Cookie Shot

19 Apr

For the first time in a long time, Mike and I had a day off together.  We had no plans for Good Friday besides going to dinner with my cousins, and we figured we may wander the city and possibly take in a museum.

But then luck took a turn.  Now first, to preface, we are HUGE Dominique Ansel fans  (inventor of the Cronut) and have been since we had his jaw dropping desserts when he was the pastry chef for Daniel. I absolutely love his DKA, macarons, and the frozen s’more at his pastry shop in SoHo.

 

Torching the Frozen S’More

 

Dominique Ansel Frozen S’More on the bakery patio

Any time I have a visitor, I try to bring them to the shop for amazing pastries… even my (now 100 year old, as of yesterday)  awesome Aunt Dinah.

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(Aunt Dinah after enjoying her first DKA)

So where did luck come in to play on this Good Friday?  I was sitting on the couch lazily scrolling through Instagram when I happened upon this post from @dominiqueansel:

http://instagram.com/p/m7qW9ElOKO/

It was about 10:40am and the first video posted indicated that they would be handing out a free Cronut and Cookie Shot to a few people near the Flatiron at 11am… and then would continue to post clues on Instagram and Twitter throughout the day under the hashtag #followtherabbit.  They would be doing this until 5:30 with 7 locations throughout the city in celebration of the upcoming first cookbook from Dominique Ansel.

By 10:55, we were out the door and on our way… but where to?

We figured that by the time we got down to Flatiron (about a 25 minute walk), they would be gone.  But I provided the driving school philosophy that if there is something in the road, you don’t know which way it’s going to move, so your best bet is to steer right towards it, figuring it will go SOME way to get out of the way (and you don’t want to guess wrong).

So we begin wandering in that direction, however, by about 11:20 we noticed in the comments that they were all out (and the internet trolls were very upset that the video was the clue to the exact location and the location mentioned was slightly off… people are so damn rude online!) We decided to pass by Flatiron and head down to Union Square, since it’s central and has lots of subways.  As we strolled, we noticed that the next video was posted, saying they were now in China Town.  So we decided “why not!” and jumped on the subway down to China Town and booked it to Confucius Plaza (a place we had never been), arriving about 20 minutes after the video posted.  We couldn’t quite find them, and then we saw the mystical Dominque Ansel yellow pastry box and approached the people with the prize to ask how it went.  They informed us we missed them by mere moments.

Dammit! But we were getting closer.

It seemed that they were posting every hour on the hour now, so we had some time to kill before the next post. We decided to take advantage of our day off and do something touristy we had always wanted to do, so we jumped on the 6 train and headed south below the Brooklyn Bridge Stop to get a gander at the abandoned subway station (the train turns around and heads back uptown at the end of the line).

Heading towards the abandoned subway station on the 6 train

 

Abandoned Subway Station below the last stop on the 6 train

We swung around the turn-around in the abandoned subway station (it was cool but I sure wish we could see a bit more!) and headed back uptown. I was thinking we should go to Union Square again for the same reason as last time (lots of subways there and centrally located) but Mike suggested we get off at Astor Place, so we went for it.

Cell phone service kicked back on right on the top of the hour, and that’s when we realized… They were in Union Square!

I am not embarrassed to say we bolted the 5 blocks there.

And we got there just in time… to watch the very last one be given away.

But now we knew what to look for!  White bags and a bunny with an orange balloon.

It was sure a rascally rabbit!  But we were having a blast running all over the city on a big treasure hunt.

So now we had another 50 minutes or so to kill. So we went around the Union Square Market, stopped in my favorite bathroom break hotel (the W at the north east corner of Union Square… just go right up the white spiraly staircase and you’re set).  It was now 1:30 and we had a choice to make… where to now?

We started doing some total guess work, that we called “hunches.” They were hopping around mostly in squares. It was only a matter of time before they hit Washington Square Park, right? Or maybe they would go to Gramercy Park? Could they totally switch it up and head up to Central Park?  We went with our first gut instinct and went to Washington Square Park.

And then as we rounded the corner toward the arch, we saw a magic thing. Before it was even posted, there were two lovely women with big white bags and a small furry bunny tied to an orange balloon.  SCORE!

We were second on line and I Instagrammed a not-so-secret picture a full 25 minutes before the clue was posted.

 

I was so damn excited that we found them!

The video was posted at 2pm on the dot and then the prize was in hand.

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They gave us our prized box and a couple special towels, and then were kind enough to take a picture of us with the bunny.

They even took a picture of us that they put on their site.

We hung out and watched the mayhem happen, as some people spotted the line and ran over with wonder in their eyes… and some tourists happened upon it and smartly jumped on the line just to see what it was (I hope they appreciated it!)

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They were gone in less than 15 minutes.

So what was in the beautiful yellow box of fun?

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Top left is a Passion Fruit Caramelia Chocolate (with cocoa nib sugar) cronut.  Top right is a bottle of the Tahitian vanilla flavored milk. And on the bottom is a chocolate chip cookie shot, which is like a firm (but somehow still soft) cookie lined with a delicious chocolate icing that you then pour the milk into.

As I sampled and sipped, I couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest person on earth (or at least in NYC). We had an adventure all over the city, on a beautiful day, saw some great things, and now ended our tour by magically happening upon the exact right spot to get a special treat.

I thought it hysterical that we wouldn’t wait on the line for 2 hours for the pastry, however, we had no problem spending all day on a scavenger hunt around the city to get ourselves the famous cronut. Would it be worth a 2 hour wait at 6am in the morning? Come on… is anything? But it was quite delicious.  I am not a huge donut fan, but to have one that had flaky layers filled with a passion fruit (but not too sweet) sauce and topped with a damn good icing was pretty awesome.

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And the cookie shot?  Really loved that!  Novel and fun. By the end of the shot, the icing had come off a bit and had made the milk into chocolate milk.  Delicious.  (Though I would still probably go back  for my original favorites)

What a day!

I can’t help but be grateful for the fun, unexpected day we got from Dominque Ansel.  A lot of people think the Cronut is overhyped (it is) and that Dominque Ansel uses it for marketing (he does, but what’s so wrong with that?) and there were a lot of people who didn’t think this scavenger hunt was very fair (it wasn’t)… but people need to relax.  This was great fun.  And let the haters hate. I’m just going to lick my lips and remember the day we magically got Cronuts.

#followtherabbit

Can’t wait for that cook book!

 

 

 

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