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"I’m excited that Levain Bakery, a New York City–based bakery known for its extra-thick cookies, will expand to Boston in early winter 2022, opening at 180 Newbury St., steps from Copley Square as the company’s first New England location. The cookie selection—chocolate chip walnut (their original “ultimate” chocolate chip walnut cookie created by cofounders and competitive swimmers Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes), dark chocolate peanut butter chip, dark chocolate chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and two chip chocolate chip—are deliberately large (about six ounces) to produce a crisp exterior and a more cookie-dough–like, gooey center: “a little bit of crispiness, a little bit of gooey-ness.” Levain began as a bread shop in 1995, and the Boston menu will also include cinnamon butter brioche, loaf cakes such as banana chocolate chip loaf, breads, blueberry muffins that evoke Jordan Marsh, plus milk, coffee, hot chocolate and other drinks; they ship nationwide and offer mini cookie versions in many Whole Foods freezers, with Instagram updates leading up to the opening." - Rachel Leah Blumenthal