We find the same excitement everywhere in New York. A line of people waiting in front of the six establishments of Levain Bakery. Lazy tourists irritate busy New Yorkers, but minutes later everyone emerges with a warm, melting cookie. “We have a lot of things on the menu, but people really come for the cookies,” laughs Connie McDonald, one of the two founders of Levain Bakery.
“Chocolate Chip Cookie” says his partner, Pamela Weekes, who adds: “Even those who usually don’t eat gluten and butter make an exception with us. There is no more American pastry than this. It reminds us all of childhood, a grandmother, a school outing, a tea party… That’s probably why such different people come. » For this, and also for the taste, because here, everything is done on site throughout the day. So it’s very good. Not necessarily sophisticated or confusing. Just very good.
All thanks to triathlon… In the early 1990s, the two partners met during training sessions for a competition that included swimming, running and cycling. Connie McDonald works in finance, Pamela Weekes in fashion. They each confide in their ambition to set up their own business one day. The first took cooking lessons and together they opened a small bakery on the Upper West Side in 1995.
Hence the name Levain, unpronounceable for English speakers. They sell bread to people in the neighborhood and to restaurants. One day, they decide to offer cookies, which go off at full speed. The next day too, and so on. In 1997, a review of the New York Times changes the situation. The day the editorial team calls to verify certain information before publication, they can’t believe it. “We thought they were calling us to sell us a season ticket. »
The company develops, always with the same rules: everything must be prepared on site and continuously. The unsold pastries of the day are donated the next day to neighborhood charities. Levain also sells online (in the United States only), and is about to open branches in Los Angeles and Chicago. And dreams of settling in France. At least the customers will know how to pronounce his name.
Instagram: @levainbakery