Croissant/Donut Showdown
America
Coco
Pink Box
Press
Having tasted croissant/doughnut hybrids from coast to coast, including Ansel’s original and the majority in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, I visited the 2nd Vegas “Donut Crawl” mostly for the people, a great group of folks ranging a wide range of ages, ethnicities, and eating experiences…but while I was there chatting with faces both new and old I couldn’t help but sample some Cronuts side-by-side; the results confirming exactly what previous visits to Press, Pink Box, Coco, and ‘America’ had led me to believe. Sampling each location’s simplest option – unfilled cinnamon or sugar glazed – as a sliced quarter, first glance tells much of the story regarding Pink Box – a limp, oily, flaccid mess with poor lamination left to rely only on sweetness and warmth/freshness, the later apparently only accomplished after a service snafu and two visits that morning. Moving next to bigger and better, Coco presents a bit of a conundrum as it is nothing like the original, yet with dramatic separation of layers and a great crunch plus light sweetness it is more akin to a really good glazed croissant – the strawberry and coconut versions no less excellent and surprisingly natural in flavor. Next up, from Press at the Four Seasons, was the closest to Ansel’s version that I’ve experienced to date – a veritable 50/50 cro/nut with nice lamination, ample butter, and good crunch – at $5 the most pricey of the quartet, but the chocolate version particularly impressive with dense semi-sweet ganache of expected Four Seasons quality. Last and (aside from the questionably-canned apple compote) in my opinion best, America Donut from America Restaurant at NY-NY offered up their “New York Style Donut” complete with yawning caverns of lamination, rich buttery tones, and nearly zero grease beneath a lightly citrus glaze – the amalgam leaning closer to croissant than donut, but entirely delicious and my favorite fried-laminated-donut/doughnut-croissant-thing in Sin City. Another great event with great people, and one that only improved with Streetcar Po-Boys immediately after.
Clockwise from 12′ – Pink Box, America, Coco, Press