THE GREAT COOKIE QUEST / GLASER'S, NUSSBAUM + WU

It just so happened that I had a meeting on the Upper East Side the other day. 

The Upper East Side is a super weird part of town, I've always said it. I'll say it again: Super weird. I can't explain it. 

After my meeting ended and it was the middle of the day and I had a few hours to kill before Huck needed to be picked up from school, I texted the Branderino. Naturally. And he was all, I haven't had lunch today! Roberta's? (One of those Broadway Bites / Madison Square Eats fairs going on--around 40th, this time--and the more they have these all over the city the less special they become, everybody does realize that, right?) Anyway, I was all, Duh, because special or not you don't turn down a Roberta's ever, but I'm coming from 52nd and Forever and Ever East and so it'll be a little while. And B was like, Cool, text me when you're here. And so that was that.

I got a really good Thought Walk in on the way over. Do you have those ever? Those are my favorite, and they cannot be forced. It's a wonderful combination of all the time in the world, somewhere you don't know too terribly well, shoes that don't pinch, and semi-decent weather (though this isn't a requirement, just a bonus). And then the thoughts just come and come and come, and you play catch and release with them, sometimes mulling one over for a minute or two, but mostly just letting them roll on in and roll on out, undisturbed. You're just the thought-haver in this situation, not the thought-maker. It's kind of lovely. I did a lot of Blog Thinking on this Thought Walk and I will tell you something about blogging, is it is best when it's un-thought of. If that makes any sense.

Roberta's was delicious, as always, really this post is writing itself. Oh, here is a picture of me holding a pizza: 

Tadum! I think I could make an album of purely Roberta's-eaten-from-a-Roberta's-truck photos. There'd be at least... four. Five!

So then Brandon was like, Hey thanks that was fun, now what are you up to? And I thoughtfully pondered the skies and considered the Earth's axis and whatnot and decided, You know, I think I'm up to a black + white cookie right now! Thank you Blog Thoughts, for reminding me that it's been a while since I did one.

Brandon may have suggested I go home and clean the house at this part of the conversation but I don't want to dwell on it, because it involved eyebrows, scrunching. 

From Times Square you can hop on the 1 and get off at 110th and procure for yourself a black + white at Nussbaum + Wu, which just so happens to be on my list of b+w places to try for this here questie thing, and then you can grab a half a dozen bagels at Absolute, too, and then you and your family will eat bagels for lunch and dinner, which is a kind of heaven in and unto itself.

This really is a post about black + white cookies, in case you were concerned about it. I'm getting there.

(Have you  been watching Vampire Diaries lately? I have a feeling this season might not be as horrible as the last!)

Now, I'm about to get far more serious about this than is really necessary for anything in life ever, but if you can't take a cookie quest seriously, then what can you take seriously?

The Nussbaum black + white is a traditional deli black + white, except that unlike most traditional deli black + whites, this one actually tasted good. Also it didn't come wrapped in plastic wrap. Also the whole thing is fondant, none of it is ganache. 

Which is probably why it seemed so stale. Sadly.

It was still good, though! One thumb up! I was both underwhelmed and relieved. Requisite Cookie Quest Selfie, thank you for your time. Nothing from Bloomingdale's is in the Bloomingdale's bag, is the bad news.

Let's break it down:

THE BLACK / 4 / The chocolate had some pretty great flavor! It was dry, though, hard as a rock. I really like my chocolate on the ganache-y side here, though I acknowledge this might be a personal preference thing. In any case, the black was just as dry as the white, which brings me to:

THE WHITE / 3 / White concrete. Sadly. It crackled and crumbled and I was like, sad face. It did taste good though.

THE COOKIE / 4 / The cookie had just the right thing going on, minus one point because it could have been less dry. Sigh. I know, right?

THE TOTAL / 11 

I brought the rest of it home for the boys to try, and later that night Brandon declared it "really good!" It was really good. It just didn't knock my socks off like William Greenberg's, and it wasn't weird enough to stand out in my mind like Glaser's (wait for it, or, you know, scroll a bit), and so overall I declared it an Average. I think if I had tried a bagel there and the bagel blew my mind apart, I would recommend the experience wholeheartedly, but as it was, I didn't. So. But actually now that I think about it, Nussbaum is right across the street from the Seinfeld diner, and its proximity to Absolute is pretty great, too, so if you're going to be in town, you know, it's worth a trek up there.

***

Speaking of the East Side, and so now I want to talk about Glaser's.

You should know that Glaser's bakery smells amazing inside. It is tiny. You are getting baked goods here or you are getting nothing. Also is they are cash only. I took photos inside but they all came out depressing looking. What I want to know is, are their b+whites always square? I pulled this guy out of the bag and had myself a very confused moment. 

Wait a minute. Cue cookie selfie reflecting curiosity and slight consternation.

Huck was there for this one. He and I both agreed, this was unlike any black + white we'd ever had. We weren't sure what to make of it at first. Glaser's does all frosting. No ganache, no fondant. The black side tasted like the chocolate frosting you'd get at the grocery store--which is to say amazing, but not terribly special. The white side was the winner here, ding ding ding! I could have eaten the white frosting for dinner. Really perfect vanilla flavor. But smooshy. I only wanted the white, which works out because Huck only ever wants the black. Team work!

So here we go:

THE BLACK / 2 / Just for non-specialness. Another thing I want to point out about an all-frosting/no-ganache b+w is that it's very delicate and not easily carried all over the city in your tote bag for optimum all-day snacking, which is a bummer.

THE WHITE / 5 / Five and a half!!! Five and three quarters! Even though, messy. 

THE COOKIE / 2 / The cookie itself was really, really great, but it was essentially a fluffy sugar cookie. No doming, no zinging, no spongeing. Lest we forget, IT WAS SQUARE, I can't get over that. It was kind of like a rather flat slice of birthday cake. Tasty, really good, it's just not what you necessarily want in a New York black + white experience, necessarily. Maybe?

THE TOTAL / 9 /

Nussbaum + Wu

2897 Broadway

On the west corner of 113th 

Glaser's Bakery

1670 1st Avenue

Between 87th + 88th

Till next time!
Find all of the cookie quests HERE. In case you're bored. ;)