Lovely Levain

It was April 18, 2008 and I had just gotten home from school on a dreary, slightly chilly, long day at school. I could have been a good girl and gone straight to my room to hit the books, but since I was a 17 year-old senior in high school, I instead decided to settle down on the couch for a bit and flip to my favorite after-school channel, the Food Network, to see what was cookin. "Throwdown! With Bobby Flay: Chocolate Chip Cookies" flashed onto the screen. After seeing those words, I was hooked for the next 30 minutes straight.

Levain Bakery boasts the best cookies in New York City, and quite frankly in the entire United States. Located at 167 W. 74th Street in the Upper West side, it just so happens to be a 7 minute walk and a 10 minute Subway ride away from where I work. Since I've recently pledged to go on an adventure each day after work, Levain Bakery was high on my list and today was the day to break that three-year-long wait for the best cookie in the US.

I found Levain Bakery tucked into the sidewalk, just to the right of 10th Ave., shaded by a tree, and scattered with cookie-handling people lingering by the bench outside. I descended the stairs and immediately the scent of freshly baked cookies bombarded my nostrils. I was in cookie heaven. Levain has four flavors: chocolate chip walnut, oatmeal raisin, dark chocolate chocolate chip, and dark chocolate peanut butter chip. While the bakery was showcased for their softball-sized chocolate chip walnut cookies on Throwdown! With Bobbie Flay, (and won the challenge for that matter) the peanut butter fanatic in me was yearning for the dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookie as well. Thus, I compromised and opted for the both of them. $8 for two cookies? Sure! When in Rome, right?

Of course I couldn't scarf down two of these half-pound, 4 inch in diameter, and 1.5 inch thick cookies in one sitting, so I dove into the original: chocolate chip walnut. The measly 200 calorie salad and can of diet coke that I had snacked on for lunch were instantly completely validated. Levain's chocolate chip walnut cookie was baked to perfection: perfectly crisp on the outside, and filled with a dense yet fluffy, and deliciously buttery inside. Melty chocolate chips and sweet crunchy walnuts were distributed evenly throughout, and every bite was as good as the last. I tried to take care of my cookie as I walked down 9th Ave, making sure not to waste a crumb, however at one point a fairly large morsel got away; I found myself reaching down to the sidewalk to retrieve it, suddenly realized my foodie faux pas, let out a groan, left it to the birds, and guided every last bite of that cookie straight to my mouth.


At $4 a cookie, you would hope that Levain's cookies are worth it--and let me be the first to tell you, they are. After delightfully devouring that one delicious dessert I felt full and satisfied. Yes, I desperately needed some water--or better yet, a glass of milk--but that cookie could serve as a meal for a slight little gal like me! $4 dinner? You bet your ass I'll be back, Levain.