25 min wait at Levain at ~4PM today. We thought the line was long when we queued up. the overall length doubled a few mins later (back to the Wells Fargo sign).
An employee came out to ask people in line if they had any questions. We asked what her fav items were. She likes the dark choc peanut butter, the coconut caramel (chip), and the cakes (like the lemon cake). Sticky buns only sold on the weekend.
The portions here are not small. Like The Cookie at Bristol Farms, a single cookie can easily feed several people. Choc chip walnut was (unsurprisingly) very underbaked. I actually agreed w/ the employees favs and thought that the coconut caramel, while even sweeter than the regular choc chip walnut, had more complexity and textural contrast (and thus was a better cookie). Dark choc peanut butter is also very good (but a bit too decadent for me).
Lemon cake is very lemon-y and was very pleasing. Coffee cake was… fine. Center filling is incredibly sweet. The portion size for the cakes is seriously like 1.5" thick (and thus, again, can easily serve more than one).
Paderia’s choc chip is not too far off, when you get a good batch. I do think Levain is better, though, while being (somewhat) less greasy than The Cookie. Service is very smooth and polished. The line moves fast. Worth a visit. A 25 min wait seemed fine. I wouldn’t necessarily wait longer than that.
There is another new place with Levain-esque cookies on South Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills called… Beverly Hills Cookies. At $6 a cookie they are not cheap but they are VERY big so the value for the money is actually fair. They do have more varied flavors than Levain (but for chocolate chip cookies they have one with walnuts and one without).
Levain has easily the most overrated cookies in the US currently. They are decent but as someone who loves sweets just SOOO rich it’s almost too much. They are good to have, but absolute insanity because it’s “the hot thing” to be waiting in these outrageous lines.
New Yorkers must be laughing at us for our fascination with their mildly above average cookie. I’m surprised Kim Kardashian didn’t endorse it first
Levain NYC opened in 1995 so it’s hardly some trendy new thing - I used to go to the UWS location in the early 2000’s and always waited in line. And the cookie was always delicious. New Yorkers weren’t laughing at each other for waiting in line then. Now it’s new in LA. Why is it weird that people are excited about it? Too old to stand in a long line now but will try Larchmont when the lines quiet down.
Probably wouldn’t wait in line when I can go to Bristol Farms or Paderia. It’s real heavy calorie dense I rather eat something savory or a mrs fields oatmeal raisin haha
I think it prob depends on what type of choc chip cookie one likes. Prior to “The Cookie” and Paderia, I don’t really know where you’d get a cookie like this in LA. It is super decadent, but I don’t really think that’s a “problem.” Just split one cookie w/ multiple people.
At the same time, a thinner cookie that’s cooked all the way through and has some nice caramelization (like at Clementine) is also very pleasing. Totally different things and totally different “purposes,” IMHO.
I think the kind of cookie that isn’t “necessarily” anymore is something that tastes like sh*t, like Diddy Riese. Even when someone else is paying and bringing them to me, I have any interest in eating any of their stuff at all anymore.
this cookie reminds me of those burgers people love that are so MASSIVE you have to cut it with a fork and knife.
Not my type or style.
A cookie should be soft, and delicious not make you feel overpowered and bloated after. Even for the perfect cookie, I struggle to see the lines we have for this. Not for everyone, but seems a lot of people (on the younger side) are doing this more to post online about it than for the cookie itself.
I meant I could *see New Yorkers doing so, I could be wrong. I don’t mean to offend anyone on this board, I just find it similar to when some Kim Kardashian product comes out and the lines are massive for 1-2 hours. Tough for me to ever find something to wait that long for unless it’s a big purchase, I’ve made my point and not much else to say. Apologies if offended anyone!
I’ve had the chocolate chip before and another one with walnuts or something. Everyone has their personal cookie preferences, but I’m not a fan. I think people who prefer cake-like or brownie-like cookies would like these. Cookies are simple treats but this one seems a little more two-dimensional. It’s just big, soft, cakey, and purposefully underbaked. Way too many chocolate chips that it cloyingly overpowers the actual cookie medium. I like soft. I like crisp edges. But it’s missing that stretchy-chewy-caramely characteristic, for lack of better words. My impression if I had it blindly is that these cookies aren’t properly-baked, but I guess that’s the point?
Depends on what you mean by “properly baked.” I find most cookies to be unappealing short, hard, and over-baked. I do think that Levain-type cookies could be baked a bit longer, but I would always prefer an underbaked to a more fully baked one.
I actually don’t like most cookies (and particularly dislike chewy), so Levain type cookies were a revelation to me (similar to discovering the diff btw yeast and cake-type donuts) b/c they’re the only ones I actually find appetizing on a regular basis. I love the fact that they’re full of chocolate chips b/c the cookie part generally tastes like filler to me.
To use another example, I think Walker’s shortbread is really unpleasant but could eat Clare’s Irish shortbread all day long. The latter is far softers than is Walker’s.
Being only able to eat a bite or two of the cookie at a time is neither here nor there for me b/c I only enjoy eating a bit or two of most dessert-y things anyway.
Interesting. I’ve always liked Walker’s and just tried Clare’s last week. I agree that Clare’s is softer (bordering on underbaked/doughy IMO), but I personally far prefer the “crumbly” almost crispy texture of Walker’s. Different tastes, I guess. I do prefer the Walker’s rounds to their fingers, which I find a bit dense.
To digress even further (sorry!), for fellow Walker’s fans, I should mention that some Costcos (just the Business one in our area) currently are selling a bag containing 24 individually-wrapped 2-packs of Walker’s rounds (totalling 21+ oz) for $8.99. This is an excellent deal, at appx. half the per-oz price of a box of Walker’s fingers at Trader Joe’s.
This is why this is such a fascinating conversation! While I would not consider Walker’s overbaked (I would just describe it as “hard,” although I do like the buttery-ness), I wouldn’t consider Clare’s underbaked or doughy at all! (but do agree that Levain style cookies are underbaked and can understand why some may find that off-putting)
Are the Walker rounds much thinner? That might solve the density issue, but I tend not to like things that snap (not a fan of gingersnaps for that reason, along w/ the chewiness).
I should also walk back my comments about Walker’s being “really” unpleasant. I’ll eat them. But I don’t seek them out or crave them, which is diff from Clare’s (where I have to suppress an urge to buy a package every time I go to World Market, which is thankfully not often).
It’s interesting b/c I love tortilla chips and croutons and parmesan crisps. So I guess I need to edit my previous statement. Maybe it’s that I do not like SWEET things that snap and/or are chewy (not a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies and generally find them far too sweet).
That’s why it’s great that this city now has choc chip cookies for every taste and occasion!
