http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/nyregion/16qbiteli.html
Quick Bite | Wainscott
Published: August 14, 2009
“Never have 12 cookies weighed so much,” said Michael Hirtenstein of Manhattan and Bridgehampton, lifting his purchase from the counter at Levain Bakery in Wainscott on a recent afternoon.
Levain’s signature cookies ($4) are indeed impressive in their heft and lumpy handmade charm. Each weighs six ounces and is nearly half as thick as it is wide. They come in four flavors: chocolate chip walnut, dark chocolate chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and dark chocolate peanut butter chip.
“There’s kind of an art to scaling it perfectly,” said Connie McDonald, the co-owner with Pam Weekes of the 10-year-old bakery in Wainscott and its 14-year-old sister bakery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The cookie’s thickness allows the center to be soft with melted semi-sweet chocolate chunks and chewy with raisins or nuts, while the outside remains crisp and firm. Substantial and satisfying, the chocolate chip walnut cookie is practically a meal in itself.
Levain produces fine artisanal breads (a crusty ciabatta is $4.50, a whole wheat walnut raisin is $6.75), bomboloncini (baked jelly doughnuts, $2 each), and flat pizza breads in flavors like caramelized onion with Parmesan or artichoke Gruyère ($7.50 each). Espresso ($1.50) and cappuccino ($2.75 small, $3.75 large) are also available. There is no table service, but there are benches to sit on.
Rustic fruit tarts are a specialty only at the East End location. A combination of strawberries, blueberries and peaches is framed in a light pie crust ($25 for a six-inch). The sweet tarts are seasonal pleasures, just like Levain’s Wainscott bakery. It closes for the year in late September. (Levain Bakery in Manhattan is open year-round.)
Levain Bakery, Wainscott Village Shopping Center, 354 Montauk Highway, Wainscott; (631) 537-8570. levainbakery.com. Open daily July through Labor Day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open weekends April through June, and from Labor Day until the last weekend of September (call for hours). SUSAN M. NOVICK
