2024-11-04
The Starter That Started Everything
A decade-old levain culture is the quiet heart of every Levain Bakery loaf. We trace its origins and the bakers who keep it alive.
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Est. 1994 -- Our Story
WhereEveryLoafBegins
What started in a tiny Upper West Side kitchen became New York City's most beloved cookie.
Levain Bakery was born in 1994 when Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald, two longtime friends training for the New York City Triathlon, found themselves craving something substantial enough to fuel long training runs. Dissatisfied with what the city had to offer, they began baking in Pam's apartment on West 74th Street, testing formulas the way athletes test split times: obsessively, systematically, until the numbers were right.
Their walnut chocolate chip cookie, six ounces of thick, gooey, crisp-edged dough, became the anchor of everything that followed. It was never meant to be delicate. It was meant to be enough. From that single recipe, a full bakery grew: breads, scones, and seasonal specials, all made with the same conviction that generosity of craft is never excessive.
Today, Levain operates multiple locations across New York, Chicago, Boston, and Washington D.C., but the original kitchen on 74th Street still runs on the same principles: stone-milled flour, cold butter worked by hand, and no shortcuts that the customer would notice.
- Every loaf is shaped by hand, never by machine
- We use only stone-milled heritage flours and seasonal ingredients
- Our starters are over a decade old -- we treat them like family
Pam Weekes & Connie McDonald
Co-Founders, Levain Bakery
Meet The Baker
Sarah Dupont
Head Baker & Bread Director
Sarah Dupont grew up watching her grandmother proof sourdough in a cast-iron pot in Lyon, France. That image, the slick dome of dough catching kitchen light at six in the morning, never left her. She enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America at eighteen, graduated at the top of her baking and pastry program, and spent three years working under the bread program at Per Se before joining Levain in 2009.
“Bread is not a background ingredient. It is the whole point of the table. We never let ourselves forget that.”
Pam Weekes, Co-Founder
At Levain, Sarah oversees every aspect of the bread program: flour sourcing from Farmer Ground and Carolina Ground mills, hydration schedules for the house levain cultures, and the team of nine bakers who work the overnight shift. She introduced the rye-and-honey pullman loaf in 2012 and the seasonal whole-grain program in 2016, both of which have since become permanent fixtures on the menu.
Her philosophy is straightforward: fermentation cannot be rushed, and customers can taste the difference between a loaf made with time and one made with additives. She insists on a minimum 18-hour cold proof for every batard and rounds each baguette by hand rather than by sheeter. The kitchen reflects her discipline: clean, purposeful, and running a half-hour ahead of schedule before the city wakes up.
James Beard Nominee
20+ Years Craft
Culinary Institute of America
Stone-milled Grains
Best Bakery NYC 2019
Our Philosophy
In a world that rushes everything,
Wedonotrushflavor.Every loaf at Levain Bakery begins the night before. Every starter is fed by hand. Every bake is judged not by the clock but by the crust. This is our commitment, made fresh each morning before the city opens its eyes.
From the Kitchen
Notes on Craft
2024-10-18
Why We Only Use Stone-Milled Flour
Industrial milling strips the grain of almost everything worth eating. Here is why we source from Farmer Ground and what it does to the crumb.
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2024-09-29
Cold Proof: The 18-Hour Patience Test
Our baguettes prove overnight in a 38-degree walk-in. The result is a crust that shatters and a crumb that breathes. Speed is not a value here.
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