A Delicious Bakery in Soho: Dominique Ansel Bakery

Chocolate cake at Dominique Ansel Bakery in Manhattan's SoHo.

No matter which Glenwood building you live in–whether Upper East or Upper West; Midtown or Downtown–it's extremely likely that you'll find yourself shopping or otherwise amusing yourself in Soho from time to time. While you're there, you might as well get a coffee and a treat, right? Consider, then, Soho's Dominique Ansel Bakery, opened last November by the famed former pastry chef of the four-star Daniel, and drawing crowds and wows ever since. We stopped by Dominique Ansel Bakery for the first time a couple of weeks ago, loved the bright open space (especially the all-weather "garden" room in the back) and made our way through a tiny fraction of the impressively large and amazing-looking selection of baked goodies, both savory and sweet. 

Spiced S'more with smoked cinnamon marshmallow at Dominique's Bakery in NYC.

Bakery Downtown NYC from Chef Dominique Ansel

As befits Chef Dominique Ansel's high-end pedigree, the pastries here at Soho's Dominique Ansel Bakery are elegant and technically flawless without being overly fussy, or afraid of fun. You'll satisfy your sweet tooth, to be sure, and be tempted by some pile-it-on combinations, but these aren't the sugar- (or even butter-) bombs of some of our other favorite bakeries in town, such as Momofuku Milk Bar on the Upper West Side, Birdbath/City Bakery, Two Little Red Hens, and Levain Bakery. Anyway, we managed to devour four of Dominique Ansel's creations on our maiden visit, and will definitely be stopping in again (we didn't even get to Ansel's legendary, Laduree-rivaling Macaroons!) and as soon as possible. Also, those sandwiches look mighty good…   

Ansel's legendary Laduree-rivaling Macaroons in Dominique's Downtown bakery.

The Mini-Me Cake at Soho Bakery, for example, is a marvel of balance, the moist, dense chocolate cake tasting more of cocoa than sugar, the whole thing studded with Ansel's signature miniature meringues which, by the way, you can also buy packaged up, to go, in six different flavors. Equally, admirably, restrained is the Spiced S'more, a smoked cinnamon marshmallow sandwiched between a "spiced biscuit" (read: rich man's graham cracker) with a dollop of chocolate ganache. The Paris-New York (a twist on the Paris-Brest, for those of you in the Continental know), features the holy trinity of chocolate, caramel, and peanut in a surprisingly light, puffy pastry. Best and simplest of all, though, was one of Dominique Ansel's three-bite Cannelé de Bordeaus, with its chewy, carmelized exterior and intense, wonderfully smooth insides. Like everything else at Dominique Ansel Bakery, the canneles, at three buck a pop, aren't cheap… but what the heck, you've braved the masses in Soho NYC all day: have a seat, get a cup of coffee, and enjoy a sinfully sophisticated treat. 

Dominique Ansel's three-bite Cannelé de Bordeaus at the SoHo bakery.

Soho's Dominique Ansel Bakery Details 

Dominique Ansel Bakery is located on Spring Street between Sullivan and Thompson Streets, and is open on Tuesday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 9:00 until 6:00. Closed Monday. For more information and a look at the complete Dominique Ansel Bakery menu, please see their website, here

Guests enjoying Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho NYC.

 

Dominique Ansel Bakery on Urbanspoon

Posted in Downtown, NYC Dining | Tagged