When Papa d’Amour opened earlier this year, its first three weeks proved so popular that it closed early after selling out of everything, says chef-owner Dominique Ansel.
“It’s been tough on the team, but I try to keep the morale high and the good energy in the kitchen,” he says via video call from New York, where the Taiwanese-French bakery is located.
Like Dang Wen Li did, Papa d’Amour centres on Asian flavours, but Ansel says the bakery – where bestsellers include a pretzel salt egg tart and a pastry topped with sticky rice and sausages – is not an evolution of the former.
“I think there’s definitely been some learning. Dang Wen Li was a great experience, a beautiful project. It was very bad timing, but we definitely learned a lot about techniques, cultural references, things that are important in terms of textures and flavours.