Levain Bakery

Levain Bakery was founded in 1995 on Manhattan's Upper West Side by Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes, two competitive Ironman triathletes who invented their signature six-ounce chocolate chip walnut cookie as a high-calorie training fuel. After a New York Times mention described their cookies as possibly the largest and most divine in Manhattan, the shop became an overnight sensation. The chocolate chip walnut cookie famously defeated Bobby Flay on Food Network's Throwdown, and Levain has since expanded to over seventeen locations across the United States.