Cronut creator Dominique Ansel has teamed up with SoHo’s PopUp Bagels to offer one shell of a take on a bagel and cream cheese.
This weekend only, Dominique Ansel Bakery (189 Spring St., SoHo) will be selling parmesan-and-gruyere cheese bagels paired with escargot schmear and a whole, shell-on snail.
“We wanted to create something that’s a bit French and unexpected,” Ansel, a Paris native, told The Post. “My favorite part of escargot is how you can dip the bread into the warm garlic butter at the end, and we thought it could work really well with a warm, cheesy bagel.”
To make the unique schmear, Ansel sautées chopped escargot in brown butter with shallots, thyme, bay leaf, parsley and pink and black peppercorns. The mixture is then deglazed with white wine and folded into a combination of garlic confit, cream cheese and creme fraiche.
“I love the tanginess of crème fraîche,” explained Ansel of the decision to not use cream cheese alone for the schmear base. “It creates a really smooth and creamy texture.”
Experimenting with bagels can sometimes lead to New Yorkers crying, “What the hole!?”
The revelation that Cynthia Nixon’s bagel order was a vile combination of cinnamon raison bagel, lox and capers certainly didn’t help her 2018 run for governor of New York. More recently, a local shop was praised when it refused to “scoop” a bagel for a finicky Los Angeles tourist.
But, so far there’s no shortage of Gothamites lining up to have a shell of a time at Dominique Ansel Bakery.
On Friday, when the bakery first began offering the $18.50 combo, people lined before the 8 a.m. opening. By mid morning, the day’s supply was sold-out.
“There’s always going to be your classics, like a bagel and lox, or a bacon egg and cheese,” said Ansel, whose regular bagel order is light cream cheese on a toasted sesame. “But this is something special we wanted to try and we hope that everyone likes it.”
