Dominique Ansel Treehouse |A new all-day café in London

18-2-2020

Chef Dominique Ansel, named World’s Best Pastry Chef by the World’s 50 Best Awards, has recently opened Dominique Ansel Treehouse, a new all-day café in London’s Covent Garden. Located on quaint Floral Street, the new concept offers a menu that celebrates and showcases the pastry foundations and artisanal techniques that pastry chefs do best, from flaky puff pastry to delicate handmade pasta, short crusts for pies and tarts, fresh-baked breads, and more.

We’ve been fans of chef Dominique Ansel from the moment he opened his first bakery in New York and got famous by creating his Cronut® and many more fêted pastries like my favourite his signature DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann). They don’t serve the Cronut® at the Treehouse for this croissant- doughnut hybrid you need to go to his bakery in London. But the menu of Dominique Ansel Treehouse sound delicious and London is relatively nearby for us Dutchies, although we still would love to have a Dominique Ansel bakery in Amsterdam!  ^Marjolein

Dominique Ansel Treehouse 

For this new concept and menu, Chef Dominique looked to the pastry kitchen and the techniques that he and his fellow pastry chefs have honed and worked on perfecting for years, and how that could translate into a savoury menu and casual café setting. It’s these building blocks of pastry that set the foundation for Dominique Ansel Treehouse. “Sometimes, the very best part of an apple pie is the crust. When we were conceptualizing the idea for Dominique Ansel Treehouse, I thought about how in a traditional restaurant setting, the pastry department typically works on all the different doughs on the menu, even from a savoury perspective. I’m excited to create a new menu that celebrates these pastry foundations and French techniques, in a casual bistro café with simple fresh ingredients that stay true to the classics,” says Chef Dominique. Set within a stunning two-storey space, the modern treehouse design is inspired by exploration and imagination. The space offers café seating throughout the ground floor as well as upstairs in the lofty ‘treehouse canopy’. A takeaway bakery counter it located on the ground floor, offering fresh-baked pastries and classic French viennoiserie.

The menu at Dominique Ansel Treehouse

As guests are seated, they’ll be welcomed with a choice of housemade bread to start – from garlicky olive oil focaccia, to buttery brioche, Carta di Musica, and sourdough (made using a levain first started by Chef Dominique in his New York Bakery 8 years ago, allowing him to bring a small piece of home to his new home in London).  The all-day café menu features a selection of tapas-style small plates, each showcasing individual pastry driven techniques in their preparation and presentation. Think: flaky puff pastry for a wild mushroom and confit chicken vol-au-vent, and a mille feuille with chicken liver mousse, mandarin orange confit, and brown butter; delicately handmade pastas like bonbon-shaped caramelle filled with ricotta and cashews or fluffy hand-mixed gnocchi with creamy Comté sauce; and baked mussels topped with homemade garlic parsley butter breadcrumbs.

Dessert will feature an assortment of larger-format specialties to be shared with the table, from a classic apple tarte tatin, crème caramel, and more.  A boutique selection of wines on tap round out the dining experience. On the ground floor, guests on-the-go will be greeted with a takeaway bakery counter filled with beautiful pastries and desserts and handmade French viennoiserie like flaky croissants and Chef Dominique signature DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann, similar to a caramelized croissant and the best-seller in each of his shops around the world). A selection of tarts made fresh daily will also be available.

The design of the all-day café

Dominique Ansel Treehouse’s lofty two-storey space features cosy seating throughout both the ground floor and upper level, with the majority of the seating located upstairs in the treetop ‘canopy’. Guests will find the ‘tree trunk’ at the center of the ground floor space, where a bakery counter welcomes guests with pastries and desserts for takeaway and also to enjoy to stay if they wish. The modern design is inspired by a grown-up treehouse, lined with blonde and warm woods throughout, cosy seating nooks and casual café tables, and sunken wooden booths set into the ground, creating a warm and inviting space for a casual meal.

About Dominique Ansel

James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef Dominique Ansel has shaken up the pastry world with innovation and creativity at the heart of his work.  As Chef/Owner of eponymous bakeries in New York, London, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong, Chef Dominique is responsible for creating some of the most fêted pastries in the world, including: the Cronut® (named one of TIME magazine’s “25 Best inventions of 2013”), The Cookie Shot, Frozen S’more, Blossoming Hot Chocolate, and many more. For his prolific creativity, he was named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Food & Wine has called him a “Culinary Van Gogh” while the New York Post coined him “the Willy Wonka of New York.” He has also been bestowed the prestigious l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole, France’s second highest honour.

Prior to opening his own shop, Dominique served as the Executive Pastry Chef for restaurant Daniel, when the team earned its coveted third Michelin star and a four-star review from The New York Times. He opened his first shop in 2011 with just four employees. His newest shop, Dang Wen Li (當⽂文歷) by Dominique Ansel, opened in Hong Kong in January 2020.

 

 

Website: Dominique Ansel Treehouse

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