Dominique Ansel visits Vegas to celebrate 10 years of the Cronut

The Cronut and 10th anniversary Cronut holes are seen at Dominique Ansel Bakery in Caesars Palace on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, in Las Vegas. The famed pastry, created by Chef Dominique Ansel, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

By Johnathan L. Wright From Las Vegas Review-Journal

Las Vegas—It was madness, sweet madness, those mornings in May, a decade ago, on Spring Street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.

Chef Dominique Ansel had just introduced the Cronut, his pastry (now famous worldwide) made from croissant-style dough formed into doughnuts, then fried and filled with flavored cream. A blogger posted about the pastry, in an early example of food going viral (Instagram was less than 3 years old in May 2013).

Outside Dominique Ansel Bakery, people began lining up in the wee hours, 150 or more, for a shot at the Cronuts, which were produced in limited amounts because of the involved technique and quality control.

“People were cutting in line, getting in fights. The neighbors were upset by the noise, calling the police. It was crazy out there,” Ansel recalled Wednesday at Dominique Ansel Las Vegas, the bakery he opened in October 2022 in Caesars Palace.