Levain Bakery

There are many places in NYC that are on the "best of" lists and have a lot of hype surrounding them, and too often they don't live up to high expectations.  Levain, however, is one of the places that will without a doubt not meet, but exceed even the highest expectations.

The bakery is nestled on the Upper West Side in a busy area that consists of Jacques Torres, Alice's Tea Cup, and Magnolia Bakery, to name a few, so there are many options to choose from.  But, anybody in their right mind would rush past all the other options without even looking back and head straight for Levain.  They sell a lot of freshly baked bread items, but are most known for their monstrous cookies.  The owners created these cookies when they were training for the Ironman and needed a calorie/energy bomb to counteract the grueling workouts, and they hit the jackpot with these cookies.

When you first see them in the display case, you are in disbelief at the size of the cookie.  They look like huge scones, but way better.  You have four options to choose from: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip and Oatmeal Raisin.  Each one of the cookies is about a pound in weight (I have read that they are 6oz, but they feel like a pound to me) so they are not for the faint of heart.  I have tried all flavors besides the Oatmeal Raisin, because even though I hear that the oatmeal raisin is amazing, I can't imagine making the trip there and not getting something with chocolate.  My favorite flavor, and the one I always order, is the Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, which is a chocolate lovers dream.  No matter what time of day you get there, the cookie is always served to you warm and fresh with the chips oozing.

After craving these cookies for weeks and dreaming about them, I finally made my trip to the bakery today and ordered the Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip.  Once it was handed to me, I split the cookie opened and was immediately overcome with the strong scent of chocolatey, buttery goodness.  Then, I looked down at the cookie and saw the oozing chocolate chips and the almost raw (in a good way) cookie center.

I took my first bite, and was in heaven.  The outside of the cookie has a nice crisp shell which works well with the soft gooey center and the melted chips.  I don't know how they get the chips to stay melted for so long, but it is just part of the magic of these cookies that can not be replicated anywhere else (in fact, I got my cookie about 5 hours ago and some of the chips are STILL melted).  You get a mouthful of chips in every bite, and the dark chocolate flavor is outstanding.  It is hard to put into words how amazing this cookie is (though I am clearly trying), but all I can say is that it is life changing.  While some could argue that it is more like a cross between a brownie and a cookie, I would take this over any other cookie any day.  While I had to limit myself to only eating half because I can't really rationalize eating an 8oz cookie, no matter how hard I worked out this morning, it was worth every last bite and calorie. 

 This isn't my first visit here, so I have gotten the chance to try their other flavors as well.  The chocolate chip walnut is also amazing and is more of the traditional chocolate chip cookie.  Even though they do get some grief occasionally for having walnuts instead of a traditional chocolate chip cookie, trust me you barely even taste them and it is SO worth it.  The dark chocolate peanut butter chip is also out of this world, and is a must for any peanut butter lover.  That being said, I will always stay true to my dark chocolate chip cookie and have to order that one every time I go.  

Lucky for me (health wise) I have to go out of my way to go to Levain, so I don't frequent here too often, which makes my occasional visits that much more special.  But, if you are in NYC visiting (even if just for a day) you MUST make the trip to Levain, even if it is out of your way.  Trust me, it will be worth it.  And, they also ship their cookies so you can get them no matter where you live!  Even though they won't be warm or oozing when they get to you, they will still be just as delicious.   

Coolhaus Dexter Ice Cream Sandwiches

There are two things that I am completely obsessed with: Food (obviously) and Television.  On any given night there are usually 2 or 3 (at least) new programs that I watch live, and that is not counting the countless repeats that I watch throughout the day.  Some of my favorites (past and present) include: Friends, Law & Order, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Parenthood, Criminal Minds, Dexter, Smallville, and Homeland, to name a few, and this list doesn't even include the countless cable networks I watch like Bravo, TLC, and The Food Network.  The accounts that I follow on Twitter basically consist of the TV programs I watch, actors from those programs, and restaurants/food trucks.  So, I was extremely excited Tuesday night to see my Twitter account flooded with posts about free ice cream sandwiches from the Coolhaus food truck to promote the final season of Dexter.  This combined my two favorite things: TV and sweets.

I immediately went on their website to find out where the truck was going to located.  I saw that it was located in midtown on Wednesday, but since I was going to be working all day I knew I wouldn't make it. Then, Thursday seemed like a much more viable day, but seeing that I had the chocolate croissant for breakfast I figured it was probably not the best combination, health wise.  So, I waited until today to see where the location was going to be and hoped that it would be somewhere close by.  Sadly, it was downtown on the West Side, which is pretty far from where I am.  After much pondering, I decided it was worth the trip downtown and went to get my free ice cream sandwich!

I had never had an ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus, but it was on my list of things I have wanted to try.  Since these were specialty sandwiches, the flavor was pre-determined instead of custom made like they usually are at Coolhaus.  To go along with the Dexter theme, one cookie was double chocolate chip (to represent Dexter's dark side), one was Snickerdoodle (to represent his good side), and the ice cream was vanilla bean with cherry swirl (to represent blood).

After trekking downtown and finally locating the truck, I got there about 12:15 and was 6th in line.  They made the sandwiches fresh for each person, which takes a bit longer but makes all the difference. I watched as the sandwiches were handed out in front of me and my mouth began to water.  Finally, it was my turn and I could not wait to take my first bite (I of course waited so that I could get a good picture in of the label).

Since the weather today was beautiful and warm, the sandwich was handed to me all soft and melty.  I have some good ice cream sandwiches, but this one was by far the best.  The double chocolate chip cookie was the star in my eyes, because it was super chocolatey and was nice and chewy.  The ice cream was also great, as it was smooth and creamy.  You could actually see the specs of vanilla bean, which indicated that it was the real deal.  The cherry swirl also added a nice punch of flavor and balanced out the sweetness from the other components.  I did like the snickerdoodle as well, but it overall was my least favorite part.  I honestly don't even remember what it tasted like because the chocolate taste overpowered it.  It was also harder than the other cookie, so when I went to take a bite it tended to squeeze the ice cream towards to other end which made it very hard to walk with.  Supposedly the wrapper is edible as well, but I did not try it because, well, a piece of paper did not seem nearly as delicious as cookies and ice cream.

I had to limit myself to only eating half, but it was well worth it.  I would most likely return to this truck if I saw it again, but it was that much more special since it was made in honor of the final season of Dexter.