Dominique Ansel And Wylie Dufresne Do Breakfast
Behold New York's newest breakfast sandwich: the wd-Ansel Egg Melt, from Cronut master Dominique Ansel and molecular gastronomy geek Wylie Dufresne.
The creation, which debuts for its limited run on Saturday, consists of soft scrambled eggs—the only way to make 'em in our opinion—with a confit egg yolk, homemade cheese, black truffle (for breakfast, duh), bacon and maple flakes, all served on a smoked English muffin. Oh, and there are truffled hash browns on the side. To make the smoked English muffin, Ansel smokes the flour before it is baked. "It works really well with the eggs and the black truffle," he says.
Now, New Yorkers have strong opinions about their breakfast sandwiches. The classic bacon, egg and cheese on a roll is a sacred institution. Just ask New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells, who came to the sandwich's defense last spring when a new restaurant called simply BEC (short for bacon, egg and cheese) promised gourmet versions of the classic. "Don't mess with my bacon, egg and cheese," Wells wrote.
But Dufresne and Ansel aren't exactly the chefs best known for keeping things classic, and if anyone could do a breakfast sandwich 2.0 justice, it's them. After all, one of Dufresne's most famous plates is the deconstructed eggs Benedict, and he once called breakfast food "fuckwithable." What's more, Dufresne is no stranger to the sandwich either. Word on the street is that the chef has been helping his dad out with a Lower East Side sandwich shop that is currently in the works.
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Ansel, of course, built his empire on a breakfast mash-up. (It's the Cronut, in case you haven't heard of it.)
This is the first time the chefs have collaborated. Dufresne says, "The process has been really fun. Talking about what makes up a classic breakfast sandwich and how we can walk it down the road!"
Don't have any plans over Martin Luther King weekend? However you feel about fancy breakfast sandwiches, this one sounds like it's worth getting out of bed for.
The wd-Ansel Egg Melt will be available for $20 at Dominique Ansel Kitchen starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 16, through Monday, January 18.
Find Dominique Ansel Kitchen on our new app DINE or online here.