Dominique Ansel to Debut His First Full-Service Restaurant at The Grove This Fall

Dominique Ansel, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef widely heralded for the invention of the Cronut® among many other Instagram-worthy delights, is making his way from the Empire State to the Golden State, landing here at The Grove this fall.

The final destination for his first-ever full-service restaurant (his sixth and largest to date) comes after three years of scouting the perfect L.A. location. “I am incredibly excited to be opening a full restaurant in Los Angeles for the very first time, and doing so at The Grove,” shared Chef Dominique. “It’s a destination that is in the heart of the local community and welcomes visitors from all over the world just as our own bakeries do.”

For his West Coast debut at The Grove, Chef Dominique; who is also the Chef/Owner of eponymous bakeries in New York City, Tokyo and London; will be developing an entirely new dining concept, also marking his largest project in the world. The yet-to-be-named restaurant will feature all-day seated dining complete with savory fare, a full bar program and creative cocktails, special events, and the debut of his first brunch service.

Days before being hailed the “World’s Best Pastry Chef” as part of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017, Chef Dominique sat down to give us the inside scoop on his highly-anticipated new restaurant.

Why The Grove for your first full-service restaurant?

A few years ago, we launched a one-day pop-up at The Grove, during which 750 people showed up in the pouring rain on a February day starting at 2am. The entire Grove team greeted us and all of our guests with open arms, sending out coffee to warm up the crowd, entertaining the line with live music, really helping us to take care of everyone from the moment they arrived. That stuck with me over all these years.

Tell us something that excites you about setting up shop at The Grove.

The Original Farmers Market is just steps away and was one of the first places I ever visited in L.A., so we’ll have access to beautiful local ingredients right at our doorstep and gain a lot of inspiration for our menus.

What’s on the menu?

I’m excited to develop a full restaurant menu for the very first time, including a bar and cocktail program and our first-ever brunch service. As for the bakery, a large portion of the menu will be dedicated to creations made exclusively for L.A. that aren’t available anywhere else, but you also can expect some of the favorites from New York like the DKA (Dominique’s Kouign Amann), Cookie Shot, Frozen S’mores, baked-to-order mini madeleines, and of course, the Cronut®.

Describe the ambiance of the restaurant.

The restaurant will be two stories, and the dining room will be located on the second floor with seating for 150, including indoor and outdoor terrace seating, along with a private dining room with its own private terrace. The bakery will be located on the first floor with indoor and outdoor café seating for 70.

Dominique Ansel’s first full-service restaurant opens at The Grove this fall. On behalf of the entire Grove team, we could not be more thrilled or honored to welcome him and his fêted culinary creations aboard.