Getting my hands on Le Robuchon's viral cube croissant felt like a real-life Hunger Games. Each tribute poised on their seats, eyes darting in every direction, waiting for the next delivery. The Cornucopia came in the form of a white marble cabinet, like those in Harrods, with pastries neatly presented on black squares of fancy card.
An empty space lay bare where Le Cubes should have been, as the deli had sold out hours earlier. “We’ll be getting the next delivery around 3pm,” a staff member explained. I had an hour and a half to wait. Plenty of cheerful tributes attempted to find their prize, only to be dissuaded by the wait time and tumbled back out onto the streets of Green Park.
After one hour and twelve minutes, a queue formed. I hurried along to join them, several people deep. Soon others caught on and the line tripled in size. Le Robuchon toyed with our emotions for the longest five minutes of my life. What if they didn’t bring enough? What if one greedy person bought them all?
Finally, I claimed my prize. The final arrow to the heart was the price tag: £7.95 for a cube-shaped croissant. On National Croissant Day, a specially curated rose cream and raspberry Cube joined the regular flavours of chocolate, matcha, and vanilla. I could no longer consider myself sane.
The half-brick-sized croissants were incredibly impressive, with fine layers of viennoiserie. Biting into the rose and raspberry Cube revealed folds of fluffy dough and a spurt of wet, sloppy rose custard. The raspberry proved difficult to locate. The National Croissant Day special was a tepid experience. However, the chocolate Cube was a glorious triumph.
