While thin, slightly chewy cookies with soft centers and crisped edges are, for many, the peak cookie experience, there are others who yearn for something thicker. Much thicker.<\/p>\n
Enter Levain Bakery<\/a>, the New York City-based cookie purveyor that specializes in just that \u2014 voluptuous cookies that are crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside and weigh in at a hefty six ounces apiece.<\/p>\n Hungry? Sign up for The Eat Index, our weekly food newsletter, and find out where to eat and get the latest restaurant happenings in Orange County. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n In early September, Levain Bakery will open its first Orange County location, and its fourth in Southern California, at Fashion Island<\/a> in Newport Beach.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have always felt that Levain brings people together, and our LA Bakeries have shown us that Southern California agrees,\u201d commented co-founders Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald, in a joint release. \u201cLevain in Newport Beach feels like the next natural step and can\u2019t wait to open our doors at Fashion Island.\u201d<\/p>\n ALSO READ: A longtime dream becomes LJ\u2019s Lounge at Triangle Square<\/a><\/p>\n Weekes and McDonald founded Levain Bakery, named after the French word for leaven, in 1995 as a small bread shop on Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bakery\u2019s zaftig cookies came about, according to lore<\/a>, somewhat unexpectedly. Weekes and McDonald, who were training for a triathlon at the time, started baking hefty six-ounce chocolate chip walnut cookies as a post-workout treat. The duo eventually began selling the cookies at the bakery, which soon turned into a hit.<\/p>\n Thirty years later, those behemoth cookies remain Levain\u2019s calling card. The bakery has since expanded beyond the five boroughs, with locations in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia and Beverly Hills<\/a>. The Newport Beach outpost will bring Levain\u2019s nationwide footprint to 20 bakeries.<\/p>\n In addition to its signature cookies, the Fashion Island location will offer breads, muffins and other pastries, as well as sandwiches. A full coffee bar will sling cappuccinos, lattes, matcha, cold-foam drinks and the bakery\u2019s Cookie Milk Latte.<\/p>\n Find it: Fashion Island, 315 Newport Center Drive, near Macy\u2019s and Sushi Roku<\/p>\n \t\t\t