The Cristo Amann is the bakery’s take on a Monte Cristo, and it started the way good ideas in a kitchen usually do, with everyone bringing something to the table. Executive chef Jill Bates, who led pastry at Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton before joining the Weinsteins, says it came out of a collaboration party where the whole team pitched ideas. “We made sandwiches, brought sammies and ideas,” she said. From there she kept working on it and sampling it for guests until it was ready.
The build takes some care. A kouign-amann is sliced in half, dipped in egg batter and seared in butter. Bates’ standard for that sear is pure kitchen shorthand: “The KA should be GBD.” Translation for anyone who has never worked a line: the kouign-amann should come out golden brown and delicious, and if it isn’t both, it isn’t done. Warm ham goes in with Gruyère, the whole thing gets a finish of sea salt, and it comes to the table with fig chili preserves for dipping.