Dominique Ansel: 'Cronut' pastry chef to close both his London bakery and Treehouse restaurant

Sweet sorrow: Dominique Ansel is best known for his 'cronut' pastry, a hybrid of a croissant and a doughnut
Ailis Brennan30 July 2020

Internationally renowned pastry chef Dominique Ansel has revealed he will permanently close both his London locations.

The chef – best known as the creator of the “cronut” – will close both his Belgravia bakery at the end of August, and his new Covent Garden restaurant Treehouse will not reopen, following its lockdown closure.

Treehouse first opened its doors in February this year, while the London bakery has been trading since 2016. French-born chef Ansel also operates cafes and restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

A spokesperson for his team said: "London has been so wonderful and so supportive to us. Unfortunately, our licenser has told us that, in the light of the ongoing restrictions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, they do not think it will be possible to continue operating either location profitably."

Short-lived: Dominique Ansel had opened his Covent Garden restaurant Treehouse in February this year

Ansel gained Instagram fame in 2013 with his “cronut”, a hybrid dessert that combined croissant pastry with the deep-frying and sugar-dusting techniques used to make doughnuts.

Treehouse restaurant was opened earlier this year as a bakery and bistro serving both savoury and sweet dishes that showcased different pastry techniques.

The London bakery continued to operate a takeaway and delivery service during lockdown, and restaurant group QOOT had recently announced that all of its restaurants – including Dominique Ansel Bakery – would extend the discounts offered by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to September 30.

To mark the last month of the bakery, Ansel will be selling "The Last Cronut" – the final flavour of its monthly-changing flavour offering – which will be filled with milk chocolate banana ganache and silky whipped peanut butter ganache. The bakery will also serve a chef's choice of three items designed exclusively for the London bakery, including a Welsh rarebit croissant, a liquid caramel peanut butter mousse cake and his "After The Rain" dessert.

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