This Thanksgiving, 17 of New York's most prolific influencers will each design a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind Dominique Ansel tulip Cronut box to be auctioned off, with all proceeds benefiting God's Love We Deliver to feed people in need. Participants designing the boxes include Heidi Klum, JoNathan Adler, Simon Doonan, Amanda Freitag, Sandra Lee, Christiane Lemieux, Joan Rivers, Peter Som, David Stark, Vicente Wolf, and the Casts of Cinderella, First Date, Janis Joplin, Motown, Pippin and Rock of Ages. Each of the boxes will include two custom Cronuts created by Chef Ansel, filled with pumpkin cream and topped with 24K gold leaf. The tulip-shaped boxes and Cronuts will be auctioned off at www.biddingowl.com from November 18th to 26th, with bidding starting at $100. Each of the boxes and Cronuts will be delivered to winners on Thanksgiving morning (winners must be located in the NYC area). Find the Cronut Mission on Twitter at hashtag #thecronutmission.
Chef Ansel and the celebrities are slowly unveiling the unique and fabulous designs; each day, photos of two new boxes will be posted online and via social media. Bejeweled, color blocked, adorned with feathers, and one, with locks to rival Rapunzel's, the boxes are each a stunning piece of art that will dazzle the lucky recipients.
This exciting collaboration started with a simple Tweet - and became a mission. On August 1st, DwellStudio Founder, Christiane Lemieux sent out a Tweet about the amazing Cronut line that she saw growing daily on her way to work. Fashion Designer
Peter Som responded, asking if she would bring him one, leading to banter about bartering dresses for Cronuts and Cronuts as currency. Their back-and-forth caught the attention of Chef Ansel - the award-winning chef and creator of the Cronut, who suggested they collaborate to bring design and Cronuts together for charity; a friendship and mission was born.
The purpose is simple - to leverage social media and the power of the Cronut for good and to feed people in need. As the Dominique Ansel bakery is one block from God's Love We Deliver, the whole mission came together. It's a story of giving back; it's a social media story, a SoHo neighborhood story and a culinary philanthropy phenomenon.
"When Dominique suggested Cronuts for a good cause, the whole mission just coalesced in my mind. God's Love is just down the street from the bakery, and there is a poetic symmetry to that. What an incredible opportunity to help people through one of the most loved and coveted sweets of our time!" said Lemieux.
"It's amazing to see such creativity, which comes in so many forms - from a pastry to a box to the brilliant art and vision of these designers and celebrities," said Dominique Ansel. "I'm honored to have a chance to see so many amazing people joined together for a passionate cause - and to bring some sweetness into the homes of people this Thanksgiving."
The Cronut is the wildly popular croissant and doughnut hybrid created by award-winning pastry chef Dominique Ansel and only sold at his namesake bakery in SoHo. Introduced in May 2013, the Cronut has commanded considerable fanfare ever since with lines down the block daily and a strict limit of two per person. The coveted pastry's high demand has even resulted in them being re-sold on the "black market" for up to twenty-times their retail price. Plus, fans enthusiastically wait in line upwards of four hours for a Cronut.
Here is the chain of Tweets that inspired the Cronut Mission:
Christiane Lemieux: Lining up for cronuts in the rain. #cronuts @ Dominique Ansel Bakery instagram.com/p/cePZAWxqvB/
Peter Som: @DwellStudio tell me you're not in line! And if you are can I have one haha @DominiqueAnsel #CRONUT #foodcraziness
Christiane Lemieux: @Peter_Som @DominiqueAnsel love them. Not in line. I pass it every day because its next to my office and marvel! I will grab you one soon!
Peter Som: @DwellStudio @DominiqueAnsel I will pay you top dollar! #cronutbribe lol
Christiane Lemieux: @Peter_Som @DominiqueAnsel trade you for your gorgeous clothes. #cronutbribe
Peter Som: @DwellStudio @DominiqueAnsel it would be 20 dresses for - cronut based on the demand! #willneverhaveacronutwah
Christiane Lemieux: @Peter_Som @DominiqueAnsel Arbitrage baby! Watch out #bitcoin we are payhing in #cronuts
Peter Som: @DwellStudio @DominiqueAnsel #cronut is the new #currency #NomNom
Dominique Ansel: @Peter_Som @DwellStudio You guys are very cute! I'd be happy to trade Cronuts if we can work on something together for a good cause.
About God's Love We Deliver
God's Love We Deliver is the New York metropolitan area's leading provider of life-sustaining meals and nutrition counseling for people living with severe illnesses. Begun as an HIV/AIDS service organization, today God's Love provides for people living with more than 200 individual diagnoses. God's Love cooks and home delivers the specific, nutritious meals a client's severe illness and treatment so urgently require. Meals are individually tailored for each client by one of our Registered Dietitians, and all clients have access to unlimited nutrition counseling. God's Love supports families by providing meals for the children and senior caregivers of its clients. All of the agency's services are provided free of charge, and in its history of more than 25 years, God's Love We Deliver has never had a waiting list. For more information, visit
godslovewedeliver.org. God's Love is a non-sectarian organization.
Founded in New York City in 2000 by Christiane Lemieux, DwellStudio is the design house for modern home and family furnishings. With sophisticated styling and fashion forward designs, the company's products - which include furniture, bedding, home accessories and a line of baby and children's furnishings - find excitement in the unexpected. DwellStudio is known for its contrasting styles, and the studio's philosophy is simple: take classic elements and twist them into a modern setting, knowing that style is never static and the home is an ever-evolving place. DwellStudio furnishings can be found at their flagship store in NYC, in specialty and lifestyle shops around the world and at
www.dwellstudio.com.
Dominique Ansel is the chef and owner of Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York City. Since its opening in November of 2011, the chef's eponymous bakery was awarded Time Out New York's "Best Bakery of 2012" is also Zagat 2013's highest ranked bakery. Prior to starting his own business, Dominique was well-known as the longstanding executive pastry chef at Daniel,
Daniel Boulud's flagship French restaurant. In 2009, Dessert Professional magazine named Dominique one of the "Top 10 Pastry Chefs in the United States". In 2013, he was nominated as a
James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef. And in May of 2013, he invented the Cronut, a croissant-doughnut hybrid that became the most virally popular pastry of its time.
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