Espresso Flan

Daniel Kobin was a successful dancer with the Alberta Ballet, Canada’s third-largest dance company, when he decided to give up the stage for a career as a chef. He moved to New York City and spent nearly five years working under the trailblazing Anne Rosenzweig at Vanessa and Arcadia. He also worked at La Grand Corniche, Gianni’s, Rosemarie’s, and Hudson HarBar, where he was executive chef.

But Kobin was eager to strike out his own, and in 1990 he opened the eponymous Restaurant Dano at the corner of Downing and Bedford streets in the West Village. (Years earlier Kobin had acquired his nickname, “Dano,” from the famous catchphrase of Hawaii Five-O, the hit television series.) The cozy, 40-seat restaurant had something of an Art Deco aura, with yellow walls under a deep-blue ceiling, etched glass, wood paneling, and an inviting little bar. “It is relaxed, sophisticated, and small enough that I can touch all four walls and every dish,” Kobin told a reviewer soon after the restaurant opened.

Restaurant Dano’s house-made breads, especially a pink and green peppercorn brioche, were an immediate hit. (“My motto is that a great meal starts with wonderful bread,” Kobin was quoted as saying.) Its desserts earned praise, too, especially a crispy-on-the-outside apple soufflé pancake.

Unfortunately, Kobin was forced to close Dano in 1991 just before a favorable write-up of the restaurant appeared in Gourmet magazine. In 1998 he brought the restaurant back to life in a different location and with a slightly different name (Dano 254, after its address at 254 Fifth Avenue), but it closed in 2006.

Here’s the recipe for the Espresso Flan that was served at Restaurant Dano.

Print Recipe

Espresso Flan

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Serves 8

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups espresso
• 2 tablespoons Kahlua
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon rum
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

1

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2

Butter 8 small bain marie molds and place them in a pan of boiling water. The water should come two-thirds up the sides of the molds.

3

Mix all the ingredients well, and pour into the molds. Cook in the oven for 50 minutes, until each flan is firm to the touch. Remove from heat, and let stand until cool.