New York's croissant cereal

On the street outside a French bakery, New Yorkers have been queueing since the early hours for a new speciality – the croissant cereal.

Alyssa Ryncarz: "We got here at 5:45 in the morning in our car and the line outside started forming at 6:30 so we've been out here for over an hour."

But what's the attraction of these little moon-shaped pastries, which are persuading customers to line up for hours in the cold and dark?

Gautier Coiffard is the founder of L'Appartement 4F bakery.

Gautier Coiffard: "So the cereal croissants are basically the same dough that we have for our croissants so it takes two or three days to make the croissant dough. It's rolled out like a classic croissant and then we flatten it very thinly. We roll the mini croissants one by one so, it takes hours. Then we bake them, we add sugar, and then we dehydrate them. So it's about two days on top of a classic croissant."

As the cereal's freshly created every 24 hours and is labour intensive to produce, there are only restricted supplies available, pushing the cost up to an extortionate $50 a pack. For many customers, it's a price worth paying.

Kat Sandoval: "The price is a little high but it’s it’s unique, you can't really get it anywhere else, so."

Originally from France, Coiffard settled down in New York in 2012 and began a new life with his partner Ashley. The one thing that made him nostalgic was French bread, and eventually he began preparing his own loaves in their Brooklyn apartment. During lockdown, his production shifted from serving family and friends to complete strangers, giving rise to 'L'Appartement 4F' bakery.

Although their lovingly prepared breads and pastries are popular with French and American customers alike, opinions are divided on their new cereal.

That may be a stroke of luck, given that the product's in short supply. However, from the looks of the long queue, it seems this busy bakery's doing plenty of things right.

Kabir Zafar: "About an hour and a half we've been waiting here."

Kabir Zafar: "I'm here today because I've heard they have really good croissants." View Less