5:45 am: Alarm goes off. Snooze.
6:00 am: Get out of bed. Brush teeth. Get dressed.
6:10 am: Enter subway station. Where is everyone?
6:15 am: Train comes. It’s empty.
6:35 am: Get off at Houston Street. Begin walking.
6:40 am: Arrive at Dominique Ansel Bakery (189 Spring Street). Was expecting a huge line and tons of commotion, but it’s actually just a quiet side street with a few people waiting outside.
6:42 am: Count number of people in front of me: exactly 32. Calculate how many people will be able to get cronuts before they run out: 83.333. SUCCESS!
6:44 am: Inform all of my friends that I have made it in time via snapchat and twitter, but no one’s awake to appreciate my social media presence.
7:00 am: The line has more than doubled. Note to self: must come before 7 am since most people aim to get there exactly an hour early.
7:15 am: News reporter walks out of the bakery, no cronut in hand. He proceeds to cross the street and film all of us waiting in line.
7:30 am: Two psychologists come and explain that they are doing a study and will pay us each 2 dollars if we fill out their survey. I feel like a lab rat.
7:33 am: Filled out survey. 2 dollars richer.
7:40 am: Some guy with a microphone comes to interview me and my friend. We try to be eloquent but soon find that’s not possible when you’ve woken up at 5:45 am.
8:00 am: Finally! Dominique Ansel, the cronut man himself, opens the door to the bakery.
8:10 am: Get inside store (they let people in every 10 minutes in groups of around 15). Time to get in another line because clearly we haven’t waited enough already.
8:12 am: Freak out at first glimpse of cronut and watch as they make more. First they pump cream into each layer, then they roll it in cinnamon sugar, then they pipe lemon maple icing (the flavor of the month) on top.
8:20 am: Someone comes around and gives out free madeleines to everyone waiting in line. They make them fresh to order, and they’re the lightest, fluffiest ones I’ve ever had.
8:30 am: Get to cash register. VICTORY! Buy 2 cronuts (that’s the per person limit) for $10. Quite the bargain!
8:32 am: Sit down in the garden and open the fancy gold box. Mandatory photoshoot with the cronut before eating.
8:35 am: First bite of cronut. I’ve never eaten anything quite like it. It tastes a little bit like an elephant ear, but it is crispier than a croissant and has more layers than the typical donut. The final verdict? Definitely a good way to make use of postbirthright jetlag. Otherwise, probably not worth the hassle.
