Levain Bakery
167 West 74th Street (Between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)
(212) 874-6080
I don’t say it often. In fact, I’ve only said it one other time on this blog.
It took me awhile to get there…and actually, now that I think about it, I still haven’t really gotten there. A kind friend, Dan, volunteered to pop into Levain Bakery for me and some other friends. He lives in the neighborhood and that day, for some reason, I was hell bent on getting to Levain, but didn’t have time to stop by before it closed at 7pm. “What is your obsession with these cookies?!” Matt kept asking me. I was sick and tired of waiting to get to these cookies that I had heard so much about. I trudged to Dan’s apartment on that snowy, icy Friday evening (and broke my ass on the slippery sidewalk along the way) to pick up the cookies.
Of the four varieties (chocolate chip walnut, peanut butter chocolate chip, dark chocolate chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin), I had Dan pick me up two chocolate chip walnut and two dark chocolate chocolate chip ones (not all for me).
I’d heard a lot about these cookies, but after seeing Bobby Flay’s chocolate chip cookie “Throwdown”* on Food Network, I couldn’t get them out of my head! I don’t even live far away from it, them, whatever. Enough was enough! Unfortunately, I was so full from dinner Friday that I didn’t get to them until the next day, but, damn, were they worth the wait (and weight, at an estimated 800-900 calories each).
See that uncooked middle? Perfection.
The chocolate chip walnut was not too sweet because of the rich walnuts. The sheer size of the cookies (6 ounces, aka nearly half a pound) is enough to overwhelm and awe. As they cook, they spread, but they start off as such huge softball sized lumps that even after a good baking they emerge the size and shape of a scone with a perfectly crisp outside and a doughy, chewy, creamy middle. It almost tastes floury, but in the best way possible. This also seems to help the cookie be not too sweet.
The dark chocolate chocolate chip tastes like a chocolate chip brownie. It has that familiar fudge-y texture in the middle, but denser. The outside is a little less crisp than the chocolate chip walnut is. I’m not sure if this was due to the additional chocolate in the batter or because the cookies had been rolling around the bottom of my bag for nearly two days. These are best with milk, but I discovered later that they’re delectable even without it.
Bottom line: you have to experience these lumps of virtuosity for yourself. Yes, at $3.50, they’re a little pricey, but one’s enough for two people to share if you’re on a tight cookie budget. I dare you to stop yourself from eating the whole thing though.
*For the record, I despise the premise of that show; tricking unsuspecting, usually small time, cooks and chefs into thinking Food Network’s producing a special on them and then Bobby Flay popping up and trying to beat these cooks and chefs at their one specialty…what a jerk.
