Honest answers to both: modestly, and basically yes 😄
Palmiers rise a little - the layers fan open and puff as they separate and the sugar coat caramelises - but they're not climbers, they're waferers. The drama is in the crunch and the caramel lacquer, not the height.
And the flavour kinship is real: both are caramelised laminated sugar, the same butter-sugar-caramel family. Kouign-amann is the big soft cousin - yeasted, tender-centred, caramel-crowned - while the palmier is all-crunch, edge to edge. If your customers love one they will love the other.
The menu decision is therefore practical, not flavour-based: palmiers are FAR easier at volume (no proofing, bake from frozen, long crisp shelf life) while kouign-amann is more impressive but more demanding. Start with palmiers, add KA when the demand proves itself. Same flavour lottery, cheaper ticket first 🙂
