Go nuts for

June 15, 2013 11:59 AM

New York City (and elsewhere) has lost its damn mind for a little something called: the Cronut.

While the origin and economics behind this invention are shrouded in mystery, the backlash has already begun.

posted by Potomac Avenue (131 comments total)

.....I've never heard of this thing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:08 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh, good to know as I had been getting a croissant and espresso there every Sunday morning since it opened, but now it is impossible as there is a line out the door going down the street to get in. I thought that they had gotten on a tour bus list or on a recommended list from all the hotels in SoHo.

Now I know it is the cronut to blame.

Have to say it was my favorite bakery, as everything there is top top quality... best in NY, IMO.. Favorite, that is, until the recent 30+ minute wait to get in the door. Not worth it even for the now legendary cronut... oh well.
posted by snaparapans at 12:08 PM on June 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

I've heard about it, but sadly have yet to try one.
posted by jonmc at 12:09 PM on June 15, 2013

"As a rule of thumb, if you arrive prior to 7:15am on a week day, you have a great chance of getting a Cronut."

Or you can pre-order up to two weeks out, or do a large order after July. Damn, I suppose this is a problem you want to have. But by the time they get the economy of scale worked out, the demand may be gone...
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:11 PM on June 15, 2013

I WANT NOW
posted by shockingbluamp at 12:12 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

This is the defining pastry of our time.
posted by popcassady at 12:14 PM on June 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

No cronut for you! Come back one year!
posted by Crane Shot at 12:14 PM on June 15, 2013 [11 favorites]

My bakery in Toronto's trendy Leslieville neighbourhood is opening next week and will feature cronishes, cookakes, & muffnuts.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:15 PM on June 15, 2013 [29 favorites]

I love it when Metafilter provides explanations for the inexplicable things my Twitter feed talks about.
posted by restless_nomad at 12:17 PM on June 15, 2013 [17 favorites]

Meh, give me a Round Rock Donut any day.

If I'm waiting in line for food it's gonna be barbecue.
posted by kmz at 12:19 PM on June 15, 2013 [5 favorites]

Well, I am going to throw out some Guardian links to the cronut mania with one including a faux-nut recipte:

Ed Kimber's lemon vanilla fauxnut recipe

Breathless Cronut coverage by the Guardian

National Donut Day coverage with cronut milkshake (it's a DAMN shame)

Anyway, I can only imagine since I went low carb.
posted by jadepearl at 12:19 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Im not even in new york I'm out of the country for two weeks but saw this on twitter and knew I had to tell the Blue. THIS SCOUGE MUST BE STOPPED/SAMPLED IMMEDIATELY.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:22 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

Damn I miss America,

Simultaneously the land of both the inexplicably creative and amazing cronut as well as the simply inexplicable Croissan'Wich
posted by Blasdelb at 12:23 PM on June 15, 2013

My sister, who lives in the twin cities suburbs, was telling me about the Cronut last weekend. She has Cronut fever.
posted by Area Man at 12:27 PM on June 15, 2013

If I'm going to get up at 6:00 AM and stand in line for over an hour to buy something, it's going to be something I'd get arrested for owning.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:29 PM on June 15, 2013 [28 favorites]

This morning, after walking the dog at the park, I drove the two miles to the Pinckney Village Bakery, owned by Kim and her Husband. As usual, the bakery was filled with great smells, the baked goods were fantastic, Kim was as friendly as usual, asked how the dog was (we often walk by and sometimes stop in, the dog loves glazed donuts!), we talked about the weather, I told her again to get her husband on the ball to make scones (he's been skipping them lately for some reason??...).

Yeah, I had to wait, at least a minute for the little kid ahead of me trying to make up his mind... but, he was pretty cute... I was able to handle the inconvenience.

I went home with two Danish pastries and a couple of cream filled long johns, took the long johns and a mug of coffee out to the hill by the lake and watched the swans silently glide across the lake for a while.

Ironically, I was in New York last weekend, and waited in line after line for simple things like a cup of coffee and a few groceries at Whole Foods (Damn!!!! the Whole Foods is in the darn BASEMENT of that building at Columbus Circle.... there is not a SINGLE basement grocery store in all of Michigan!). All, of course, at costs 4 times higher than I pay here at home. I guess it's the price you pay to listen to horns and sirens while you get ready for your day.

You guys stand in line for these, let me know how they are, I'll be at the table at Kim's Pinckney Village Bakery, having coffee and a donut (for a total of about $2, plus tip).... Or, if you want to stop by here for donuts, real, honest to god, donuts, let me know, I'll have them ready, and the coffee is free.
posted by HuronBob at 12:29 PM on June 15, 2013 [12 favorites]

Cake donuts or raised?
posted by Area Man at 12:31 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

People sure will go to extremes to push their pleasure buttons.
posted by nowhere man at 12:31 PM on June 15, 2013

Oh.
posted by pbump at 12:32 PM on June 15, 2013

So, pronounced "crow-nut" or "crunnet"?
posted by fallingbadgers at 12:32 PM on June 15, 2013

Great, I leave the city and this happens. Well, I see your cronuts, NYC, and I raise you an apple fritter.
posted by vrakatar at 12:35 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

do these exist in LA or will i have to make them myself?
posted by raihan_ at 12:35 PM on June 15, 2013

any gluten free?
posted by robbyrobs at 12:35 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Cake donuts or raised? Your choice!
posted by HuronBob at 12:35 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

If I'm going to get up at 6:00 AM and stand in line for over an hour to buy something, it's going to be something I'd get arrested for owning.

Order it to go with a supersized soda.
posted by yoink at 12:36 PM on June 15, 2013 [20 favorites]

If you're at Dominique Ansel and they've run out of cronuts, try their DKAs instead. They're even better. And if you're in that neighborhood and you want the best croissants in NYC (though Ansel and others have good ones too), visit Mille-Feuille on La Guardia.
posted by shivohum at 12:40 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

Dominique Ansel sure deserves all the success, as he has been inventing new delicacies since he opened last year.. and the normal fare is all best quality. No surprise that he was pastry chef at Restaurant Daniel... Just wish he would open up a separate window for the cronut so the regulars can get their less coveted fare without having to wait for an hour.
posted by snaparapans at 12:41 PM on June 15, 2013

Lemon and maple are not two tastes that I imagine tasting great together. Perhaps I am wrong.
posted by rtha at 12:42 PM on June 15, 2013

"Deep fry your croissants, we're gonna deep-fry your croissants..."
Sept 2007. Scottish football fans take the mick out of their country's culinary skills during the match against France.

As ever with fried goods, the Scots thought of it first.
posted by Jehan at 12:42 PM on June 15, 2013 [9 favorites]

cronut is O.G. pastry fo sho

can't stop cronut

suggest you try not
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:46 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

And yet they laugh at the goofy fried things you get at Midwestern state fairs.

I hope your cronut gets run over by a citibike.
posted by spitbull at 12:51 PM on June 15, 2013 [18 favorites]

$5.00????
Keep it.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:54 PM on June 15, 2013

I'm grateful that the day has finally dawned when you can read something like this and it has nothing to do with bacon or Portland. It has been a long dark age.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:54 PM on June 15, 2013 [50 favorites]

Pretty soon someone on a talk show will state how fattening cronuts are, and maybe they cause autism, and the fad will slip into oblivion.
posted by Cranberry at 12:54 PM on June 15, 2013

If I weren't trying to be particularly gluten-free this summer I would totally try to deep-fry frozen croissants just so I could be trendy.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:01 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Someone needs to start a Crunkin' Cronuts chain.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:05 PM on June 15, 2013 [79 favorites]

CORRECTION: my wife saw it on twitter not me but cuz we're married now I just figured I'd pretend it was my idea. Apparently it doesn't work like that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:05 PM on June 15, 2013 [13 favorites]

Cranberry:...and the fad will slip into oblivion...

Well, considering how talented Ansel is, I am sure that as long as he is making cronuts, they will be in demand, as everything he makes is really delicious, fad or not.. the thing is that he is a real artist and while he obviously loves the fame and financial success, he appears to be mostly interested in creating so I am sure that he is already working on inventing a new innovative baked delicacy...
posted by snaparapans at 1:06 PM on June 15, 2013

I can't wait until someone does a Lutherburger using these Cronuts instead of regular donuts.
posted by vuron at 1:06 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

We need advertising slogans.

Build big butts...with cronuts!
posted by yoink at 1:06 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

cRAVIN' some croWnuts.
posted by HuronBob at 1:08 PM on June 15, 2013

Backlash? Backlash? I never knew about this. Why didn't you guys call, jeesh.
posted by ouke at 1:12 PM on June 15, 2013

It looks delicious, and those DKAs look yummy too! Kind of amazing, when you think about it, that there is a person who is a genius at making little pastries and that just so happens to be the thing he wants to do more than anything else. What a delightful world we live in.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:14 PM on June 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

You can get cronuts in other cities now?? The bubble has burst... I hate cronuts already and I haven't even tried them. About two weeks ago it was a slow news day and the yapping heads on CNBC spent the entire day talking about cronuts. There must have been more zoom-ins of that single plate of cronuts than there were charts of the S&P.

I also remember reading an article talking about how people were reselling cronuts at 700% markup in the early days of the cronut craze... Imagine that, paying some shady dude on Canal street $40 just to eat a fucking donut that flakes off all over the place in that annoying croissant way... I wonder if the bakery has put some limit on how much an individual customer can buy in order to prevent such tomfoolery?!
posted by pravit at 1:25 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

See, here I am in the low country and I'm perfectly happy with the fact that macarons have made it into regular circulation down here. I'll stay with that food fad indefinitely, thank you.
posted by sonascope at 1:28 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

2 cronuts per person now. And by early days you mean last month? Cuz he put them on the menu last month.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:28 PM on June 15, 2013

Tbh I just like saying Cronut.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:29 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

I plan on trying to make a batch of imitation cronuts tomorrow. When I told my mom my plans she flipped out--I guess expectations are high now.
posted by inertia at 1:34 PM on June 15, 2013

HuronBob: "This morning, after walking the dog at the park, I drove the two miles to the Pinckney Village Bakery, owned by Kim and her Husband. As usual, the bakery was filled with great smells, the baked goods were fantastic, Kim was as friendly as usual, asked how the dog was (we often walk by and sometimes stop in, the dog loves glazed donuts!), we talked about the weather, I told her again to get her husband on the ball to make scones (he's been skipping them lately for some reason??...).

Yeah, I had to wait, at least a minute for the little kid ahead of me trying to make up his mind... but, he was pretty cute... I was able to handle the inconvenience.

I went home with two Danish pastries and a couple of cream filled long johns, took the long johns and a mug of coffee out to the hill by the lake and watched the swans silently glide across the lake for a while.

Ironically, I was in New York last weekend, and waited in line after line for simple things like a cup of coffee and a few groceries at Whole Foods (Damn!!!! the Whole Foods is in the darn BASEMENT of that building at Columbus Circle.... there is not a SINGLE basement grocery store in all of Michigan!). All, of course, at costs 4 times higher than I pay here at home. I guess it's the price you pay to listen to horns and sirens while you get ready for your day.

You guys stand in line for these, let me know how they are, I'll be at the table at Kim's Pinckney Village Bakery, having coffee and a donut (for a total of about $2, plus tip).... Or, if you want to stop by here for donuts, real, honest to god, donuts, let me know, I'll have them ready, and the coffee is free."

Can you email me some, or at least a link to a torrent?

(Plus coffee, donuts and swans sound excellent!)
posted by Samizdata at 1:39 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

restless_nomad: I love it when Metafilter provides explanations for the inexplicable things my Twitter feed talks about.

Also when Metafilter provides explanations for the inexplicable things going on down the block.
posted by snaparapans at 1:42 PM on June 15, 2013

It won't be complete until they sell Crunchkins
posted by spitbull at 1:49 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

I hate cronuts already and I haven't even tried them.

No worries, you seem to be in good company here.

Or you, I dunno, can like, just get a bagel and then go volunteer at a soup kitchen for two hours where people are starving instead.

Now I feel guilty for enjoying my life.
posted by Edgewise at 2:02 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

An easy recipe using pre-made crescent dough
posted by rainman84 at 2:05 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

I am just glad people aren't lining up to eat crow testicles. Crows have enough problems.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:09 PM on June 15, 2013 [12 favorites]

oh god those cronuts look so good and also kouign amann is pretty much the best baked good
posted by threeants at 2:10 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

I must have it.
posted by bq at 2:10 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

threeants: also kouign amann is pretty much the best baked good

Watch Dominique Ansel Make Kouign Amann

mouth watering now.
posted by snaparapans at 2:17 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

I will stick with my obscenely large dark chocolate peanut butter cookies from Levain.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:18 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Isn't this the thing the jealous restaurateurs devised to kill food critic Homer Simpson?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:18 PM on June 15, 2013

It won't be complete until they sell Crunchkins

Also known as Croholes.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:23 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

I got on the pre-order list as soon as I saw this on Taxi TV. I also signed up for the cake walking tour, got my dog a spa treatment then went to a replica fin de siècle left bank cafe set up in the back room of a club.

The waiting lists pretty long but I'm going to make a few calls and see if I can get bumped up, I'll let you guys know.
posted by Ad hominem at 2:28 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

SQUAGELS! SQUARE BAGELS! FINALLY! DON'T BE OPPRESSED BY THE TYRANNY OF ROUND!
posted by davidjmcgee at 3:01 PM on June 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

Can you put a bird on it?
posted by jenkinsEar at 3:04 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

So, pronounced "crow-nut" or "crunnet"?
Kwa-noo
posted by Joh at 3:04 PM on June 15, 2013 [9 favorites]

66 comments and I haven't seen anyone mention cortex's donut... (cor-nut?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:08 PM on June 15, 2013

66 comments and I haven't seen anyone mention cortex's donut... (cor-nut?)

He does look a little fried.
posted by snaparapans at 3:13 PM on June 15, 2013

An imitation named the dossant also launched in Melbourne last month, which is where I heard of it. Apparently there's a variation in Sydney now as well.
posted by jacalata at 3:32 PM on June 15, 2013

Don't forget the dipping sauce, otherwise they're kinda drab.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:32 PM on June 15, 2013

As long as no one spills the beans about the roast pork buns at Mei Li Wah Bakery in Chinatown. Pretty much pork donuts, Homer.
posted by R. Mutt at 3:43 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

dossant

my first thought was "a combination dosa and croissant... that sounds amazing"

alas..
posted by raihan_ at 4:02 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Pittsburgh's had them for weeks now. Only $2.50 here!
posted by janewman at 4:09 PM on June 15, 2013

You guys stand in line for these, let me know how they are, I'll be at the table at Kim's Pinckney Village Bakery, having coffee and a donut (for a total of about $2, plus tip).... Or, if you want to stop by here for donuts, real, honest to god, donuts, let me know, I'll have them ready, and the coffee is free.

Hooray, the thread now has its requisite "I don't get why you-all city folk do things in such a high-falutin' way when we plain folks are plumb happy with less" folksy comment.

The world can continue to turn.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 PM on June 15, 2013 [9 favorites]

Are we finally done with cupcakes now, though? Because I am so goddamned tired of talking about cupcakes.
posted by emjaybee at 4:12 PM on June 15, 2013 [5 favorites]

Cupssants?
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:20 PM on June 15, 2013 [5 favorites]

My bakery in Toronto's trendy Leslieville neighbourhood is opening next week and will feature cronishes, cookakes, & muffnuts.

Is Red Rocket still down there? My wife's friend was a co-owner before she left town and damn that place was good.
posted by Hoopo at 4:21 PM on June 15, 2013

Can you email me some, or at least a link to a torrent? It is only 6 hours and 3 minutes to my house... See you about 2 am... :)

we plain folks are plumb happy with less" .......

Actually, we consider it more, not less... :)
posted by HuronBob at 4:23 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Now now, Huronbob, we already have the one comment, no need to gild the lily.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:28 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yeah I don't know why people who live outside New York have this attitude all the time, like they are better than us. There is no way I would ever want to clean those giant houses they have or have to milk a cow every day or be kept awake by crickets chirping all night. The worst thing about people who live outside New York is they never let you forget it.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:29 PM on June 15, 2013 [8 favorites]

Donuts: How Do You Falute?
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 4:32 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

The worst thing about people who live outside New York is they never let you forget it.

Second to the people who assume that everyone in New York lives precisely the same way and that you can't find the folksy diners here in New York as well.

(Mine is a place called Putnam's. I get stuff free there too, and instead of Kim and her husband we have Gerry and Audrey - I got to learn BOTH their names - and they don't just greet me by name, they also helped me with first aid after I broke their foot and they always ask me how I am when I stop by.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:34 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yeah, there is way more to New York than Times Square and the Sex and the City Tourbus. Those are things we keep around to get money from the yokels who visit. We don't all see a musical every night and drink Cosmopolitans. We also don't all have artisanal beards, I do, but some people don't.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:39 PM on June 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

Stuff mine with turducken and you've got a sale.
posted by jquinby at 4:40 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

You broke their foot?
posted by HuronBob at 4:40 PM on June 15, 2013

Is there a paleo version?
posted by telstar at 4:41 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

We don't all see a musical every night and drink Cosmopolitans.

Oh, those were the days my friend.
posted by R. Mutt at 4:53 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Don't get me wrong. I love all the stuff outside of New York. I was there spring break my junior year. First I was like "what's up with the cows and crickets" but when I came back to New York I actually missed them. I still think about them, they are probably gone now, replaced by a Walmart.
posted by Ad hominem at 4:54 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

Shouldn't it be pronounced "kwa-nut"?
posted by hwestiii at 4:55 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

66 comments and I haven't seen anyone mention cortex's donut... (cor-nut?)

Never having met Josh in person, after seeing that photograph, I'm going to choose to believe that he is in fact a tiny, tiny person who works in a tiny, tiny cubicle.
posted by webmutant at 5:31 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

You broke their foot?

You don't break people's feet in the country? How do you get ahead?
posted by srboisvert at 5:49 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

Are we finally done with cupcakes now, though?

NO. I'm selling heavily frosted donuts out of my bedroom just one borough over. I'm calling them... dupcakes.
posted by houseofdanie at 5:50 PM on June 15, 2013

I think I will brave the line soon! Why not, could be fun.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:52 PM on June 15, 2013

When my neighbor was talking about crackpots maybe I should have paid more attention.
posted by brain_drain at 6:10 PM on June 15, 2013

Bring me One, Pinky.
posted by jonmc at 6:59 PM on June 15, 2013

$20, SAIT :D
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:02 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

we'll negotiate.
posted by jonmc at 7:04 PM on June 15, 2013

How many can you even get these days? I hear conflicting reports of either two or three.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:07 PM on June 15, 2013

You don't break people's feet in the country? How do you get ahead?

Arm yourself.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:09 PM on June 15, 2013 [1 favorite]

If the Yelp reviews are true, it's two.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:09 PM on June 15, 2013

Not only has Auddino's bakery in Columbus been making these for years, their cafe will split it, grill it, and make you a breakfast sandwich with sausage, cheese, and egg.
posted by BZArcher at 7:10 PM on June 15, 2013

If I'm going to wait in a long line for ridiculous pastry goodness, I'll head over to Beard Papa for a box of Japanese cream puffs.
posted by flyingsquirrel at 8:17 PM on June 15, 2013 [2 favorites]

restless_nomad: "I love it when Metafilter provides explanations for the inexplicable things my Twitter feed talks about."

I'm pretty sure the natural order of things for me understanding things right now is:

tumblr --> Twitter --> Metafilter

If I don't understand it by the time it gets here, I just give the fuck up.

Also, I am very interested in this thing they call cronut.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:31 PM on June 15, 2013 [3 favorites]

The first naming attempt -- ladies and gentlemen, I give you the doughbutt -- didn't go over as well.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:07 AM on June 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

their copywriter is an asshole

After it’s launch on May 10, 2013, Cronut fans spanned the world from Berlin to Singapore, making it the most viral dessert item to date

the larger problem is that this is a heart attack in a bag and you're buying it to buy it

like the whole thing where bacon is a thing all of a sudden

it's just bacon. it's just a donut made with different dough so it takes like something else. i can make you a meatloaf out of origami paper if you like but if you line up at a stationery store to buy it believe me the people who don't do that are not the schmucks in this situation

good for the pastry chef for making something people like

but this is a nothing
posted by waxbanks at 3:40 AM on June 16, 2013 [2 favorites]

Yep, Sydney has them. Our relentlessly self-promoting dessert mogul Adriano Zumbo is now making a version that he calls - of course - the "zonut". He was tweeting photos of them all weekend. There will probably be a queue all the way through Balmain tomorrow.
posted by web-goddess at 4:54 AM on June 16, 2013

I had a nice pastrami club at Katz's last night. This is the first I heard of the cronut.
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:41 AM on June 16, 2013

This is the first I've heard of these. They sound delicious, but not delicious enough to wait in a gigantic line to eat.
posted by SisterHavana at 9:47 AM on June 16, 2013

Dear New York,

Berkeley has the best French bread outside of France, and that with jam and butter in the morning kicks the dough out of your fad foods.

Sincerely,
The Cheese Board
posted by zippy at 10:04 AM on June 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

All this regional pride shit is weird.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:06 AM on June 16, 2013

Hooray, the thread now has its requisite "I don't get why you-all city folk do things in such a high-falutin' way when we plain folks are plumb happy with less" folksy comment.

Oh, I recognized it for what it was when I favorited it. But you have to admit that it's an exceptionally nice example of the genre.
posted by purpleclover at 10:25 AM on June 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

All this regional pride shit is weird.

That's what someone from wherever you're from would say.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:28 AM on June 16, 2013 [11 favorites]

Line longer then ever this am... around 200 people, and that was at 9:30.. if they only make 200/day I think many will be disappointed..
posted by snaparapans at 10:51 AM on June 16, 2013

Berkeley has the best French bread outside of France.

To be fair, all the best French bread is outside of France these days.

This exercise in faux-cosmopolitan pretentiousness brought to you by The Internet. For all your pretending to know what you're talking about needs, choose the best, choose The Internet.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:14 AM on June 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

I must admit I would feel very strange ordering a pastry called a DKA; in my world, that stands for "diabetic ketoacidosis." It's like those burgers called "The Heart Attack"...truth in advertising, I guess.
posted by ilana at 11:36 AM on June 16, 2013

A nice rundown of the regular fare at Dominique Ansel Bakery, and some background about his training, by Serious Eats.... from the pre-cronut days.
posted by snaparapans at 11:58 AM on June 16, 2013

TCBY franchises became bagel shops that turned into Krispy Kreme franchises which turned back into frozen yogurt places (during the Atkin's Diet fad) which then became cupcake shops will now become Cronut bakeries.
posted by Kloryne at 1:15 PM on June 16, 2013

Bay Areans: apparently Pepples will be (is already?) serving their version at Donut Farm.
posted by Lexica at 1:16 PM on June 16, 2013 [2 favorites]

Wait, wait, wait, there is a thing called DONUT FARM?
posted by purpleclover at 1:46 PM on June 16, 2013 [3 favorites]

You see this is odd. Because I was in a small northern Spanish town in April and we bought a couple of things that looked like glazed donuts. And they turned out to be made of flaky pastry dough. But apparently they are a traditional Spanish patisserie item. Been around for decades, if not centuries.

I call prior art.
posted by JohnnyForeign at 1:53 PM on June 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

I call prior art.

I would guess that more likely than not, it is the actual pastry Ansel made, and how it tastes, that has gotten so many people interested, not so much the form itself (fried folded pastry dough).

There are many paintings out there of haystacks, but one or two really stand out, if you know what I mean.
posted by snaparapans at 2:17 PM on June 16, 2013

Dear New York,

Berkeley has the best French bread outside of France, and that with jam and butter in the morning kicks the dough out of your fad foods.

Sincerely,
The Cheese Board



Dear Berkeley,

So what. We have proper bagels.

Love,
New York
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:33 PM on June 16, 2013 [2 favorites]

You see this is odd. Because I was in a small northern Spanish town in April and we bought a couple [...] . Been around for decades, if not centuries.

It's easy for a lay person to be confused about this. The proto-cronuts found in the Pyrenees region are called cro-magnuts. Taxonomically they differ from modern cronuts but you have to be a donutologist to really see the differences.
posted by George_Spiggott at 2:38 PM on June 16, 2013 [2 favorites]

Pepples donut farm meet up in 3 ... 2 ...

So what. We have proper bagels.

Dear NYC, while it is true that we have a chain, Noah's, that serves "bagels" that are not boiled, after a decade or two of waiting, we finally have two bagel-makers with the real deal: Baron's and Beauty.

Also, we have less than 75% of the summertime urine smell of NYC.

In lox and in love,
Berkeley
posted by zippy at 6:44 PM on June 16, 2013

The secret to Chicago hot dogs is ... celery salt! It's true!
(And no ~shudder~ sauerkraut. ) NOW can I have a cronut?

Please?
posted by Chitownfats at 8:04 PM on June 16, 2013

Can we all just agree that New Haven style pizza is objectively and conclusively superior to New York thin crust and Chicago deep dish?
posted by zippy at 9:53 PM on June 16, 2013

Weirdly, my friend went there today and appears briefly in this TV Tokyo report from this morning.
posted by wintersweet at 11:01 PM on June 16, 2013

Can we all just agree that New Haven style pizza is objectively and conclusively superior to New York thin crust and Chicago deep dish?

There we are in agreement.

And what's more, I took a pizza-making class a couple weeks ago, in Italy, where the kind of crust they taught us how to make was - crispy, thin crust like New Haven. So we now have definitive proof that New Haven does pizza Like Italy And God Intended.

The secret to Chicago hot dogs is ... celery salt!

On my first trip to Chicago, I realized at some point that I had just gone an entire 36-hour period subsisting on nothing but hot dogs simply because that's how much I liked them. I bought a jar of celery salt when I got home for just that reason, and I always try to have some pickles and sport peppers in the fridge for hot dog purposes as well.

(And I'm now realizing that I have some homemade dill pickles and homemade relish I need to use up...)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:24 AM on June 17, 2013

Also, we have less than 75% of the summertime urine smell of NYC.

so does brooklyn and we also have junior's cheesecake so nyah
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:51 AM on June 17, 2013

Also, we have less than 75% of the summertime urine smell of NYC.

Nostalgia.... Urine smell, an indicator of the soul?

For one, you may be using dated data.. and, two, if urine smell is part of the competition, we are catching up fast. Very soon NYC will be as sanitized as Berkeley.

We used to have lots of summertime urine smell (glorious Times Square district for example) but the fertile rot has mostly disappeared, as Manhattan turns into one great shiny hotel.

Cronuts are soulful, IMO, even if they are expensive and built on the backs of gallons of public piss from the past..
posted by snaparapans at 7:36 AM on June 17, 2013

Berkeley has the best French bread outside of France, and that with jam and butter in the morning kicks the dough out of your fad foods.

While Cheese Board is indubitably delicious, New York now has a branch of Maison Kayser, which has some of the best French bread in France, and certainly out of it.
posted by shivohum at 8:14 AM on June 17, 2013

City Cronut:

1. Wait in Line
The lines start outside the bakery as early as 2 hours prior to opening (we open at 8am from Mon-Sat and 9am on Sun). As a rule of thumb, if you arrive prior to 7:15am on a week day, you have a great chance of getting a Cronut. Please note there is a 2 person limit for in-store purchases. When in line, please do be considerate of the residences in the neighborhood and the others in line.

2. Get on the Pre-order List
Every Monday at 11am, we open up pre-orders by phone ONLY to the bakery at 212.219.2773. Please keep in mind we are taking pre-orders for up to two weeks in advance. Currently pre-order lists are full. The limit per person for pre-orders is 6 Cronuts. If the phone is busy, please do call back. Pre-order lists fill up very quickly.

3. Place a large order (over 50)
Please email the shop at [e-mail]. We would need a minimum of one(1) month’s advance notice. Currently, the list for large orders is full up for the month of July. For all August orders, please email on July 1st or later. Orders will confirmed based on a first-come-first-serve basis in the email list. Please include a phone number so we can reach you to confirm the order.

Country Cronut:

The sweet young woman who answered the phone just now said they are $2.50 each or $30 a dozen.

posted by Blue_Villain at 10:35 AM on June 17, 2013

waxbanks: "their copywriter is an asshole

After it’s launch on May 10, 2013, Cronut fans spanned the world from Berlin to Singapore, making it the most viral dessert item to date

the larger problem is that this is a heart attack in a bag and you're buying it to buy it

like the whole thing where bacon is a thing all of a sudden

it's just bacon. it's just a donut made with different dough so it takes like something else. i can make you a meatloaf out of origami paper if you like but if you line up at a stationery store to buy it believe me the people who don't do that are not the schmucks in this situation

good for the pastry chef for making something people like

but this is a nothing"

Wait.

WAIT!

THEY MAKE A BACON CRONUT?

If that is true, then FUCK THE RAPTURE I AM IN HEAVEN RIGHT NOW!

(No cronuts around, just hypothesising on the joys of bacon cronuts.)
posted by Samizdata at 8:21 AM on June 18, 2013