Levain Bakery
167 West 74th St. – New York City
$4*
A few times over the past few years, I’ve been asked by friends to provide a list of bakeries (i.e.,cookies) worth seeking out while visiting New York City. Even though (with the exception of one year in the mid-nineties) I have never lived in NYC, I’ve been there a bunch of times. And I’m sure it comes as no surprise that during these visits, cookie scouting ends up high on my priority list – above, I am simultaneously ashamed and proud to admit, The Guggenheim, MOMA, Broadway performances, shoe shopping, etc. I will plan entire walking itineraries around strategically-located bakeries; this is how I roll. (OMG: if somebody has not already opened a bakery called “This Is How We Roll”, it needs to happen – stat! Genius.)
The truth is, I have never even stepped foot in this bakery, but a few years ago a colleague of mine living in NYC (most likely because I forced our crew to make frequent cookie stops during the week-long project on which we had just finished working together), Fed-Exed me a box of cookies from Levain. Obviously, they made a huge impression on me and I have often included Levain on the list. Not because it is the best, end all, bottom line chocolate cookie you’ll ever eat (I’m not sure such a thing exists), but because it is, objectively speaking, truly remarkable. Behold:
One of these cookie advice-seekers was (is) a favorite client of mine, an art director by day/cookie scout by night (and day). This is a guy who texts me photos of cookies he discovers while traipsing the country, adding observations such as: crunchy outside. Moist inside. Not overly sweet, nice balance of chips and pecans. In other words, his (and his wife’s, I might add) dedication is indeed impressive. In other words, he’s one of us.
If that weren’t enough, while emailing me a photo (including tasting notes) of the double chocolate chip from Petrossian that he was munching in New York last weekend, he told me to put in my order for Levain; he would be loading up on Tuesday morning, leaving from JFK that same day – and that I could either meet him at the airport at 11pm or pick them up at the office the following day. Being that I live a mere 12 minutes from the airport, I opted for the former. So…after a possibly suspicious-looking exchange of an unmarked paper bakery bag for cash – just outside airport security at PDX this past Tuesday night – I was on my way home with three Levain fatties, weighing in at over one pound, accumulatively. As a point of comparison, a ginger molasses from Crema is approximately 2.5 oz.
Let me cut to the chase and tell you straightaway that if you do not appreciate an underdone cookie, these are not the ones for you. What we have here is a softball-sized mound baked just enough for an almost crispy exterior to form around a soft yet stiff and firm doughy center. But it is not, let me be clear, gooey in any way. Think about the texture of the very small balls of dough lacing Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream, times that by…thirty-five (seriously, this is probably not an exaggeration) and then give it a slightly firm coat. Unlike the cookie dough ice cream, however, there is nothing other than pure butter and high quality chocolate going on in the Levain cookies. No soybean oil, no guar gum. I’m not sure what carrageenan is, but there ain’t any of that shit in the Levain cookies, either.
A few months ago, my brother took my Levain recommendation (cookie monsters run in our family, oddly enough) and bought a chocolate chip and an oatmeal raisin while in NY with his girlfriend. He told me that they were still eating the cookies 2-3 days later, late at night in their hotel room. And after this most recent sampling of the cookies, I have concluded that they do, in fact, taste much better a couple of days old. Due to being cooked “rare”, they age quite well, not becoming stale after a day – as a more fully-baked cookie is likely to do.
As a huge fan of oatmeal raisin cookies in general, I have to say that apart from the size and texture, this one (above) could use some work.
Here’s what it needs: more oats, more cinnamon (I’m not sure it has any cinnamon at all, actually), more brown sugar (or darker brown sugar), and a nice pinch of salt. It just isn’t very…oatmeal raisin-y. I would not get this one again.
The dark chocolate chocolate chip is by far the knockout of the bunch. As my tasting partner Giovanna’s daughter Grace observed, it is more brownie than cookie. The under-baked texture is truly excellent in this particular variety.
Like I said, I could not, like so many have, claim it to be the best of the best; but if ever I were tasked to create an All-Star Cookie Team – with the goal of including a range of players bringing their own strength and unique awesomeness to the team – Levain (minus the oatmeal raisin) would certainly make the cut.
*Keep in mind, the cookie is more than twice the weight of most $1.50-$2 cookies, so the $4 price tag is quite fair and in keeping with standard bakery cookie pricing.
Spot on, unless you are a cookie monster like me and can’t allow these damn yummy chocolate softballs of goodness to age. Fresh out of the oven the chocolate chips do make the soft center deliciously gooey. I will have to find a way to go back and not inhale the whole cookie before day end.
Hey, who you callin’ NOT a cookie monster? I won’t fault you for not allowing the cookie to age, but the texture of the firmed-up cookie studded with the chips is not to be missed. I think the flavors really saturate and stand out more when it isn’t hot and gooey. You’re probably logging enough miles walking around the city this week to warrant a second purchase. By the way, how do you rate Jacques Torres?