Two kids, a windy Saturday afternoon, some cookies, and a stomach ache. Immaculate Infatuation samples the city’s best chocoate chip cookies.
Check it out.
Infatuation TV – The Original
Few things in this world get us fired up here at the Infatuation like chocolate chip cookies. Now we know that’s not exactly the craziest thing you’ve ever heard about two grown men, but consider that the following are both true statements. One of us has been known on several occasions to take down entire boxes worth of Entenmann’s Original Recipes in one sitting. The other will admit to once crushing up a bag of Tate’s, adding milk and treating himself to a Southampton version of Cookie Crisp.
Months ago, we began to discuss content for this site, and what would most likely net us a Nobel Prize or, better yet, a Webby. It seemed obvious that we start with a topic so near and dear, and we wanted to do it right, rather than just rattling off a list of ten places with a decent cookie and throwing in some pictures. That said, allow us the pleasure of making a few introductions.
Meet Jane, age 9.
and Catherine, also age 9.
It became clear that we needed to have opinions untainted by write ups (can a 9 yr old read?), word around town, or “buzz”. So we enlisted the help of these two firecrackers and set out on a Saturday afternoon in search of a great cookie.
The Plan
Team Infatuation +2 would visit five locations that allegedly have a fantastic chocolate chip cookie, eat the cookie in its natural environment, maybe get down with some milk on the side, evaluate, and return to home base to compare our notes. We had initially planned on hitting ten to twelve different cookie hot spots around town, but our two rented children got too jacked up on sugar, and we hit a wall at stop number five.
The Tools
-
20 5X7 index cards, one for each bakery and each reviewer with the following check boxes
- This is an unbelievable cookie (9.0 – 10.0)
- Pretty awesome (7.5 – 9.0)
- Good, but not my favorite (5.0 – 7.5)
- Just OK (3.0 – 5.0) *note – what cookie isn’t worth at least 3.0?
- 1 2004 Honda Accord
- Plastic bag full of pencils
- 1 really old camcorder, 1 Flip Cam Mino, 1 digital camera
- Camera operator/hype man
The Results
Levain Bakery
167 W. 74th St
New York, NY 10023
212-874-6080
Official Website
Our unanimous champion, this tiny bakery turns out one huge cookie. No joke, this monster was like a delicious baseball. Just the right amount of nuts and both semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips make it the big winner.
Click images to enlarge
Jacques Torres
285 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10023
212-787-3256
Official Website
If Levain bakery is a baseball, this one is a frisbee. Large and thin, we had high expectations, but nobody gave this better than Pretty Awesome. Unfortunately for us, this batch had been sitting around for a minute. It would seem that the key to the best possible Jacques Torres experience is to go early in the day when you can snag one of these bad boys fresh out of the oven. Overall, Jacques Torres came in second but it’s 100% possible that if we went earlier, this cookie would have received higher marks.
click images to enlarge
Magnolia Bakery
200 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10023
212-724-8101
Official Website
People line up for the cupcakes at Magnolia, but rarely do you hear about the cookie. Not surprising, as this was about as standard as they come. By no means was it a bad cookie, but not in the big boy leagues of Levain and Jacques Torres.
click images to enlarge
City Bakery/Birdbath Green Bakery
145 7th Ave
New York, NY 10014
646-722-6570
Official Website
First of all, to the dude behind the counter at City Bakery – you are a tool. Yes we’re filming, and yes the two nine year olds are bouncing off the walls, but they got into the sugar cubes at the last place and then we walked by a pet store. Deal with it. Also, your band sucks. City Bakery has a decent cookie, but it’s not all that. A consistent Good But Not My Favorite, with one Just OK thrown in.
click images to enlarge
Milk & Cookies
19 Commerce St
New York, NY 10014
212-243-1640
Official Website
For a place named Milk & Cookies, we all expected more. Points for the staff being awesome, but the cookie was too dry and plain, and tasted like it had rolled oats or something in there. Also, who still has sugar cubes? Just OK‘s all around.
click images to enlarge
The Recap
Featured Artist
We’re completely obsessed with Passion Pit. Summer has barely even begun and Immaculate Infatuation is ready to call it right here, right now: Passion Pit’s debut album is the best record of 2009. Manners is the perfect blend of fun, electronic fueled indie rock and it boasts accessible, uplifting anthems to get down to. This record will motivate even those buried in deep depression from all this rain to smile and enjoy life. “Little Secrets” is our favorite song on the record and fits perfectly with the vibe we were going for with Cookies Across The City – thanks to its children’s choir sing along chorus.
