NYC. New York Cookie.

You'd think I hadn't eaten cookies in a decade the way I ate cookies in New York - I was like a thirsty desert nomad and bakeries were my oasis. That's actually a bloody lie considering I made cookies about once a week in Italy, but my return to North American Baked Goods Culture was thrilling nonetheless. We tried the Nutter Butter and Bouchon from Thomas Keller's bakery, the baseball-sized chocolate chip walnut and dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookies from Levain, and then there was our little discovery in Brooklyn.

Whilst wandering around Williamsburg, Lauren and I passed a chalkboard scrawled with "Momofuku Milk Bar," the name of a popular David Chang eatery. The strange thing was there was no shop-front, just an industrial metal door with cut-outs of dog photos taped to one side. As far as we knew, there were only two Momofuku Milk Bars in New York, both in Manhattan, so this was a bit of a puzzle. I'd had a slice of their trademarked Crack Pie the day before but was too full to try one of their Compost Cookies, a quirky mix of chocolate and butterscotch chips, pretzels, potato chips, graham crumbs and coffee grounds. I couldn't decide if this concept repulsed or enticed me, but wanted to try one nonetheless. And I would. Oh I would.

Turns out what we'd happened upon in Brooklyn was the Momofuku bakery warehouse, which will buzz you in and sell things strictly by the dozen. Twelve cookies, two people, and one more day in NY. Lauren gave me a look that said "it'd be an idiot move, Anderson," but I'd already decided this was magically fated. When else could I say I'd bought crack from behind a sketchy green door in the heart of Brooklyn? This technically wasn't even crack, just a bunch of compost, but I'll take my bad-ass moments when I can get them. Before you could say Butter-Overload I'd agreed to a dozen hefty cookies, opting for two of each flavour. They handed me a box that weighed no less than two kilos, which I proceeded to lug back to Astoria then all the way to Vancouver.

Totally worth it for the cookies themselves, the friends I got to share them with, and the fact that I later got to say "my favourites are the Peanut Butter, Corn and Compost." I also think I gained some serious street cred and am now considering a henna tattoo.




Last photo credited to: http://ggeatsnyc.blogspot.com