There’s a brilliant scene—or rather one of many brilliant scenes—in the new Manchester-set British drama, Tip Toe, a gut-wrenching story of neighborly unlove which is coming to Starz this fall, where the non-binary Melba, dazzlingly played by Paul Rhys, holds forth on what is for them the scourge of contemporary life: “You know what I blame for the downfall of civilization? Croissants.”
Standing at the épicerie of Galeries Lafayette in Paris, I understand what Melba means when I see two enormous, and I mean enormous, croissants—one regular, the other a pain au chocolat—at the counter of French star baker Philippe Conticini. The best way to describe their size is perhaps to imagine you’re a Lilliputian gazing for the first time in awe at Gulliver. They’re called the Gourmet XXL Croissant and the Giant Chocolate Croissant, and Conticini says they can be shared among “10 people or serve just one person who really loves croissants.”
