FOMO: Summer of the Rain Room and the Cronut

Fear of missing out – FOMO – is what the New York Times said was the reason why people were willing to wait at least 2 hours to get into the MOMA exhibit, “The Rain Room,” which closes July 28th. As a member, I thought I would have no trouble getting in if I arrived a half-an-hour early. But alas, others had, indeed, arrived 2 hours earlier. No art was worth standing in the sun for that long.

MOMA’s Rain Room

FOMO may also be why people have been lining up at 7am every morning in front of the Dominique Ansel Bakery on Spring Street. They are waiting to buy this summer’s phenomenon – the Cronut. Developed by Chef Ansel and introduced in May, the Cronut is a doughnut shaped croissant. Every month the bakery offers a different flavor.

Photo my friend took of her blackberry Cronut

If you choose to wait on line, you can only purchase two at a time. You can also pre-order by phone for pick-up Monday morning. But as of this posting, they are already filled with orders through August 4th. Not really knowing all the details, I arrived one day after noon. Of course, the Cronuts were all gone by then and no more more were being re-baked that day. My friend rose to the challenge and arrived at Spring Street one morning at 7:30am to already find the line down the block. As it inched forward, she saw people leaving the bakery; going to the corner; and re-selling their Cronuts like scalped tickets! Turns out, she was the last person of the day to get a Cronut box.She saved the Cronuts for her daughter, a food blogger, who thought it was the best thing she had ever eaten. My friend had a croissant instead and found it very disappointing.

I’ll never know how good these are because no food is worth waiting on line for two hours. But I do think there could have been a great cross promotion this summer — wait on line for the Rain Room and when you get inside buy a Cronut.

“Lunch Hour” Exhibit at the New York Public Library

At the New York Public Library

A perfect companion piece to the AMNH’s “Global Kitchen” is “Lunch Hour NYC,” an exhibit at the New York Public Library  (Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Gottesman Exhibition Hall, 42nd and Fifth Avenue). This free exhibit, on view until February 17, 2013, looks back at more than a century of New York lunches.

On view are photographs, cookbooks, recipe cards and products from the working class lunches in the taverns of  lower Manhattan to the power lunches at Sardis; from hot dog pushcarts on Fifth Avenue to Horn and Hardart’s Automat in Times Square. Some of my favorite pieces included:

Creamed spinach recipe from Horn& Hardart’s Automat

Sandwich choices at the Automat

The exhibit is open Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm  (Tuesday evening until 7:30pm).

Lunch boxes

Puzzle pieces to practice budgeting your lunch

“Power” lunch menu at the Four Seasons