With the invention of the Cronut, Mr Dominique Ansel made baking history. The award-winning pastry chef created the much-hyped pastry hybrid – a cross between a doughnut and a croissant – in 2013, and it soon sparked queues around the block at his New York bakery. A flurry of imitations (unsurprisingly, the tac-cro, a taco-cum-croissant, didn’t catch on in quite the same way). More sweet inventions, from blossoming hot chocolate to frozen s’mores, followed, cementing Mr Ansel’s reputation as one of the world’s most innovative pastry chefs.

Now, the lauded patissier is turning his attention to the savoury stuff, and has just opened Dominique Ansel Treehouse in London. The all-day café, a two-storey space in Covent Garden with a giant rope-clad “tree trunk” that erupts through both floors, uses the world-renowned pastry techniques Mr Ansel and his team are known for in a selection of Insta-bait dishes, from handcrafted pasta to pies and tarts, and there’s not a Cronut in sight.

“We wanted to create a menu that celebrates pastry techniques,” says Mr Ansel. “In a traditional restaurant setting, it’s often the pastry team making the doughs and breads anyway. The dishes at Treehouse will showcase these techniques, but from a savoury perspective.” Although he has bakeries around the world, for Mr Ansel, “it’s never about cutting and pasting. It’s about looking at the city and creating something special – in this case, it’s a new concept, with a takeaway bakery on the ground floor and an all-day café upstairs.”

As well as the pastry, there’s handcrafted pasta and freshly made bread. “We’re making pillow-soft gnocchi that’s hand-mixed, and our caramelle, which look like tiny candy-striped bonbons, and are filled with ricotta and cashews,” says Mr Ansel.

If you want to recreate one of the dishes at home, Mr Ansel has shared a recipe for his gnocchi with a velvety cheese sauce. “The important thing to remember when making this dish is not to overmix the dough,” he says. “Gently mixing until the flour is fully incorporated will create light-as-air gnocchi. Overmixing will overwork the gluten and the pasta will be tough.” Test out your skills with Mr Ansel’s recipe below.

For the gnocchi:

• 400g russet potatoes
• 70g “00” pasta flour
• 3g baking powder
• 6g salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• Salt, to cover the surface of a sheet tray

For the sauce:

• 1 litre whole milk
• 60g butter
• 60g plain flour
• 11g Dijon mustard
• 150ml double cream
• 60g Mimolette cheese, grated
• 60g Comté cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper, to taste

To serve:

• Parmesan
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Butter
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 185°C.  Cover the surface of a baking tray with a bed of salt. Set the potatoes on top of the salt, then bake for 1.5 hours until tender.

Slice the potatoes lengthwise and scoop out the halves from the skin. Pass the potatoes through a ricer until smooth and fluffy.

Transfer the mashed potatoes into a large mixing bowl and add flour, salt, and baking powder, gently folding with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Add the egg yolk, mixing until it becomes the texture of a soft dough. Be careful not to overwork or overmix the dough as it will activate the starches and result in a dense, tougher gnocchi.

Transfer the dough onto a floured work surface. Roll out the dough into a long 2.5cm thick rope. Cut into 4cm gnocchi. Place on a floured baking sheet, cover with cling film, and set aside at room temperature for 30-40 minutes to allow the gnocchi to prove and gently rise a bit.

Prepare an ice bath by filling a mixing bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the gnocchi about 12-15 at a time (so the pot isn’t overcrowded), stirring occasionally, until they float (it takes only about 1 minute or so). Once they’re floating, continue to simmer for 1 minute. Transfer to the ice bath to stop cooking. Repeat this process with the remaining gnocchi. Store on a baking sheet (or similar) lined with a clean lint-free tea towel.

To make the sauce, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat (do not fully boil), then remove from the heat. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring, making sure there are no lumps, until a thick glossy paste forms (this is known as a roux). Carefully pour in the hot milk and stir to combine. This sauce is known as a béchamel. Stir the Dijon, cream and both cheeses into the béchamel until combined. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes while stirring. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve the dish, in a non-stick pan, melt 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Sear 8-10 gnocchi for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden.

Ladle a large spoonful of the warm sauce onto a plate. Place the seared gnocchi on top. Finish with a generous amount of shaved parmesan, freshly cracked black pepper, and fresh lemon zest on top.