Levain in Harlem satisfies sweet tooth
Columbia students hardly have to leave Morningside Heights to eat one of Levain Bakery’s famous cookies. On Tuesday, Levain opened an outpost in Harlem (2167 Fredrick Douglass Blvd., at 117th Street)—in dangerously close proximity for those addicted to their baked goods.
The new Levain sells the same baked goods as their Upper West Side location, with the exception of sandwiches and breads. In the future, they might sell sugary treats unique to the Harlem location.
The cookies, priced at $4 each, are about the diameter of a bagel and over an inch thick. They arrive fresh from the oven every 35 to 40 minutes, which means they are usually still warm when purchased. Four varieties accommodate all: chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate chocolate chip, dark chocolate peanut butter chip, and oatmeal raisin. Each has its own merits, and one cannot help feeling like a mother deciding which of her children is best.
There’s a reason their signature cookie, the chocolate chip walnut, won against Bobby Flay’s version in Food Network’s “Throwdown.” The outside is a crisp golden brown, the inside is slightly gooey, and there are plenty of semisweet chocolate chips and walnuts in every bite. It teeters toward the side of undercooked, but in a good way, with all the ingredients oozing together.
The dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie is prepared with extra-dark French cocoa and high-quality, semisweet chocolate chips. This creation is for serious chocoholics only.
The chocolate peanut butter chip cookie is similar to the dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie, but instead of chocolate chips it has peanut butter chips. If a dark chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cup were reincarnated as a cookie, this would be it.
One might assume the oatmeal raisin cookie would be something of a runner-up among its chocolaty siblings—the one cookie that did not make it into the Ivy League of Cookies. But this cookie is just as good as the others. Rolled oats and plump raisins make this cookie the healthiest option of the four, and no less sweet.
A mere 10-minute walk from campus, the new Levain will surely become a popular destination for students looking for fuel for midterms or a sweet break from studying. Even diet-conscious students have a good excuse to go—the walk back to school up the Morningside Park stairs is sure to burn at least some of those calories.