Update (4/11/2017): New details about Dominique Ansel's forthcoming Los Angeles location are beginning to trickle out. We still aren't sure of an opening date, but at least we know the location. He'll be returning to the scene of his super-popular pop-up and setting up shop at the Grove. He will be taking over the location that has been occupied by Morel's French Steakhouse, right on the shopping mall's main walkway, according to Eater. The two-story space will feature a ground-level bakery and upstairs dining room, similar to that other trendy bakery café already open at the Grove, Ladurée.
If there's any indication that Los Angeles is a mecca for chefs looking to experiment right now, it's this: Dominique Ansel, inventor of the cult-favorite Cronut, is opening a restaurant in L.A. And yes, he's bringing the Cronut with him.
The LA Times reports that in late 2017, Ansel will open his fifth—and largest—project, a restaurant that will include brunch, dinner, cocktails and events. The space still hasn't been nailed down, but it will undoubtedly be popular; at a 2014 pop-up, Angelenos flooded to The Grove for a sample of the chef's croissant-donut mash-up. Ansel, who opened his first bakery in New York City in 2011, told the Times that he is excited about L.A.'s potential. "People seem more patient; they seem to give you more of a chance to express yourself,” he explained. In addition to his NYC bakery, Ansel's projects include Dominique Ansel Kitchen (also in NYC), and Dominique Ansel Bakeries in Tokyo and London.
There will, of course, be a bakery component to the restaurant, where people can pick up the Cronut and other baked goods if they're not interested in sitting down for a meal. There will certainly be a line, but with the recent arrival of Mr. Holmes Bakehouse and its crowd-inducing Cruffin, we're getting used to waiting in line for pastries.
Ansel isn't the only chef who's making a triumphant return to L.A.; Scott Conant, who ran the spaghetti-drenched Scarpetta for years, has just signed on to open Ponte, an Italian restaurant in the former Terrine space. Just another reason why L.A. kicks NY's ass.
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