Dominique Ansel (born 1978) is a French

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

and owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He is best known for his invention of the

Cronut The Cronut is a pastry. It resembles a doughnut and is made from croissant-like dough filled with flavored cream and fried in grapeseed oil. The Cronut was created and Trademark, trademarked in 2013 by the French pastry chef Dominique Ansel. Ety ...

, a

croissant A croissant is a buttery, flaky, Austrian viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape, the dough is layered wi ...

donut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...

hybrid that became a phenomenon.

Early life

Raised in a working-class family in

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

, a small city north of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Ansel is the youngest of four children. After high school, he apprenticed at local restaurants, first working in savory and then in pastry, gravitating most strongly to the scientific precision of pastry. At age 19, Ansel did his military service in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

as part of a community program teaching locals how to cook.

Career

Ansel has previously worked at

Fauchon Fauchon is a French gourmet food and delicatessen company that was founded in 1886 in Paris, France. Fauchon is considered a major reference in contemporary French gourmet foods, and it had 81 outlets in operation around the world as of 2019. ...

and served as executive pastry chef at

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

, a two

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

French restaurant in New York City. He later opened Dominique Ansel Bakery in

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variet ...

. His invention of the

in 2013 became a widely publicized phenomenon, being named one of Time Magazine's best inventions of the year. He was named Best Pastry Chef in the U.S. by the

James Beard Awards The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

in 2014. The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards named Ansel the World's Best Pastry Chef in 2017, at the age of 39. This made him the first pastry chef in America to be bestowed the honor. Other chefs to have won the award include

Jordi Roca Jordi Roca i Fontané (born 1978, Girona, Catalonia, Spain) is the pastry chef of the restaurant El Celler de Can Roca. In 2014 he won the inaugural "World's Best Pastry Chef" award from Restaurant magazine. In April 2018, an episode of Chef's T ...

, Albert Adria, and

Pierre Hermé Pierre Hermé (; born 20 November 1961) is a French pastry chef and chocolatier. He began his career at the age of 14 as an apprentice to Gaston Lenôtre. Hermé was awarded the title of World's Best Pastry Chef in 2016 by The World's 50 Best Re ...

. In January 2021, he opened his first shop in Hong Kong, Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel. He opened Dominique Ansel Workshop, a croissant shop inside of his pastry kitchens, in New York's Flatiron neighborhood in July 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ansel, Dominique Living people Pastry chefs Bakers French chefs American chefs Businesspeople from New York City French emigrants to the United States People from Beauvais 1978 births James Beard Foundation Award winners