[title]
We'll be honest—we thought NFTs would be a passing fad. Alas, the technological invention has officially permeated just about every industry... including our local food scene.
To celebrate the Cronut's ninth birthday, Dominique Ansel has announced the launch of a 60-piece limited-edition NFT collection of Cronut digital art in a variety of popular flavors.
Starting tomorrow at 9am, ten batches of six different non-fungible Cronut tokens will go on sale on the OpenSea marketplace. Flavor-wise, you can expect five "resurrected" picks (salted dulce de leche, burnt vanilla and smoked caramel, strawberry and lemon verbena, Meyer lemon and wildflower honey, and guava and orange blossom), plus a number of others that the famous bakery has released in May over its lifespan.
And if you just can't wrap your head around what an NFT is (join the club), you'll be delighted to know that the five until-now defunct flavors will be re-released as actual, physical, edible Cronuts next weekend only (from May 13 to 15) at the Soho bakery.
"We've always been excited to try new things that we thought are worthwhile—whether it's regularly changing our menu or, in this case, developing our very first collection of NFTs," Ansel said in an official statement. "For us, it's about creating something that builds a long-term relationship with our guests; food is perishable and can be fleeting, and once you've eaten it, it's gone. But with an NFT, it lives on and we can keep building and growing that community. [...] This will be a new way to keep in touch and give our guests that extra bit of hospitality."
Folks that will actually invest in the various NFTs can also expect to be eligible for a number of special perks, including, according to Food & Wine, "a pass to skip the Cronut line, early access to new launches and events, and personalized greetings from chef Ansel."
Given the madness involved in securing yourself a Cronut daily, we'll admit that the idea of being able to skip the line is enough of a reason for us to consider buying the digital version of the iconic dessert treat.
Love doing stuff in your city? Tell us all about it in our annual, global, Time Out Index survey.