Are The Cronut Guy's $100 Desserts Any Better Than A Regular Slice Of Cake?

What you’re looking at in this video, because it’s probably not entirely clear, is the new lineup for cronut dude Dominique Ansel’s dessert-only tasting menu. For about a year now, the annoyingly viral-savvy chef has hosted an “intimate” “after-hours” “tasting experience” called U.P. (“Unlimited Possibilities”) that costs $85 (plus $45 for drink pairings!), consists exclusively of sweets, requires dinners to dress in “smart cocktail attire,” and sells out a month in advance.

I have attended one of these “experiences”—and, actually, it was pretty cool! It is, in fact, exactly the sort of snobbish self-indulgence for people who self-identify as foodies that you’re thinking it is. But if you can get over that, and get over yourself for recognizing it as such, it’s a fun evening built around eating tasty sweet things.

But watching the unveiling of a new menu predictably saddled with the vague and overwrought title “American Dreams” (the one I attended was themed around different life stages—I don’t remember what it was called) I realize that I don’t remember what anything I ate that night tasted like. I do, however, remember that there’s a place around the corner from my apartment that sells a chocolate pound cake that is incredibly dense and rich without being too sweet. And I wonder if I’ll get home in time to pick up a slice.

Eating is great and if you enjoy it you should feel free to experience the entire range of possibilities. But. Watch that video again. That sheep is cool as shit. But does that sheep look as tasty to you as a slice of chocolate cake?