Cronut creator Dominique Ansel has opened his second location in Las Vegas—but this one hits closer to home for the chef because it reminds him of his childhood. Before he was a famous pastry chef with a James Beard Award, he was just a kid with a sweet tooth growing up in the small French town of Beauvais, an hour north of Paris.
He remembers walking to small cafes where he would grab a croissant or whatever else he could get his hands on those days. His new shop, Dominique Ansel Marché, inside the Paris Las Vegas resort—which marries bakery and patisserie—is just what Ansel was after.
“In each of our shops, we always create something unique,” he explains. “We wanted to recreate the feeling of a Parisian marketplace—something I remember fondly growing up, with fresh-made crêpes, slow-cooked rotisserie chicken with French fries or roasted potatoes, beautiful fruit tarts and croissants. It reminds me so much of home in France, right here at the heart of the Strip.”
The day before Dominique Ansel Marché opened he invited a group of journalists to tour the 5,000-square-foot café-style space and make crêpes (a task I failed miserably when I tore the batter, which he patiently fixed).
Fresh flowers and greenery give Marché that inviting walk-up sidewalk cafe feel Ansel was after and the breakfast-to-dinner menu accomplishes his goal of being more than a bakery. Each month will feature a different flavored cronut—December’s Pain au Chocolat, filled with dark chocolate and croissant ganache is a nod to Paris itself—and the restaurant also serves sorbets, tarts, the DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann) and chocolate chip cookie shots.
But Ansel is also offering some savory bites that include made-to-order buckwheat crêpes, rotisserie chicken, flatbreads and roast beef sandwiches.
Dominique Ansel Marché at Paris Las Vegas is open daily from 7am to 11pm.