The $50 Cereal That Looks Good Enough To Justify The Cost

If pajamas were a food, they'd probably be breakfast cereal. And cereal wouldn't be a chic, silky matching set, either. Cereal, being easy, kid-friendly, affordable, and familiar, is like the old oversized T-shirt that you sleep in. So when you hear of a breakfast cereal that costs $50 per box, that probably sounds exorbitant. At least, until you hear what goes into it.

L'Appartement 4F is a tiny but popular French-style bakery in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City. Customers rave about the bakery's bread and pastry offerings, but the business offers one particularly memorable treat: the petite croissant céréale, a cereal consisting of tiny, handmade croissants. The treat comes in a large box, which contains about three or four servings, and costs $50. Smaller boxes are available for $25.

If you've ever watched a competitive baking show, you know that laminated pastries like croissants are a ton of work, requiring multiple thin layers of dough with butter in between each, so you can imagine how much work goes into hand-making dozens of tiny croissants. Because of this, the shop is only about to make a few boxes each day — but they're so in demand, that customers don't mind lining up half an hour before the shop even opens in hopes of being one of the lucky few.

L'Appartement 4F went viral for its croissant cereal in 2021, before it had even opened its first brick-and-mortar location. The internet's response to the luxury cereal has been, of course, mixed. Plenty decry the very idea of $50 cereal, while many others lust after the miniature pastries.

Pricey though it may be, the petite croissant céréale regularly earns rave reviews from those who have tried it, which makes sense given the level of detail that goes into them. The pastries are hand-rolled, which is likely even more painstaking than with regular croissants due to their diminutive size. They're then baked, dipped in a house-made simple syrup, sprinkled generously with cinnamon sugar, and then dehydrated. Whether or not you'd ever shell out that $50, the labor alone explains the jaw-dropping price.

Those who have tried the cereal have commented that it's crunchy and sweet, but not exceedingly so. They also say that it maintains its texture for a long time before becoming milk-logged. It even made its way onto "The Drew Barrymore Show," where the titular hostess rated it five out of five stars, and co-host Ross Matthews noted that each croissant even has distinguishable layers, just like the full-sized thing.

The cereal isn't currently available to order online for delivery or pickup, and there's no preorder system in place. The only way to get your hands on a box of these laminated marvels, as of yet, is to physically visit the shop in Brooklyn, first thing in the morning.

Part of the hype around the croissant cereal is due to its exclusivity. Because the team is tiny, there are typically only a few boxes of the cereal available each day. As a result, lines typically start forming about 30 minutes before the shop opens at 8 a.m. One might call this cereal the cronut of the 2020s. Both treats are social media darlings that combine two of the internet's collective passions: gushing over tiny things and gawking at food prices.

Whether or not it's due to the petite croissant céréale, business seems to be good for L'Appartement 4F. At the time of writing, the team is working on a second location in Manhattan's West Village — but chances are, the cereal will remain the exclusive catch of a few early risers. Whichever borough you're headed to, be sure to set an alarm.