There were at least fifty people lined up outside Christina Tosi's massive new Milk Bar when the doors first opened on Saturday, and for much of the afternoon the line stayed about the same, as the beloved baker's fans flocked to see what 4,000-square-feet of baked goodness looked like. They were not disappointed. Tosi's Milk Bar flagship, by far the largest in her NYC empire, is loaded with eye-candy, laden with sweet treats, and features several new "experiences" that allow you to interact with the Milk Bar bakers and personalize your goods.
Located at the corner of 29th Street and Broadway, in the former John Dory space on the ground floor of the Ace Hotel, the flagship is divided into several distinct areas. The main draw is the long baked-goods counter, where you can get Tosi's famous cookies, cake truffles, slices of various cakes and Milk Bar (née Crack) Pie, savory stuffed-bread "bombs," and her excellent soft serve (which you can get by the cup, as a "milkquake," or in a Build-a-Pint container). You can order everything to-go, obviously, or grab a seat and get right to it at one of several picnic-style tables in the spacious dining area up front.
The best news about the flagship is that almost everything is made on-site, just like in the old days when Tosi first set up shop in the back of Momofuku Ssam. This makes a huge difference, not only in terms of freshness, but also with your connection to the space, the food, and the experience. On opening day I ate a complimentary slice of Tosi's new Pumpkin Dulce de Leche Cake, three cookies (Confetti, Chocolate Chocolate, Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow), three bombs (Italian Hero, Eggplant Parm, Pepperoni), and a cup of Apple Pie soft serve with pie crust crumbs. And for the first time in many years, it all felt exciting, like Milk Bar was, once again, an essential NYC bakery, and not just a tourist-magnet, or brand.
The Build-a-Cake and Build-a-Cookie counters add to that sense of connection. I tried the Cake experience and had a blast working with Tatiana assembling the many layers of cakes, soaks, fillings, crumbs, and frosting that went into the monster. You don't actually touch the cake during this process—for that sort of intimacy you have to sign up for a class, held in the downstairs school room—but you make a lot of decisions with the help of a baker, who will offer suggestions when you stumble.
The Build-a-Cake costs $65, which is $15 more than if you just bought one of Milk's regular options, but the process lasts about a half an hour, and you walk away with an enormous dessert, which in my case involved cinnamon butterscotch cake, cold brew coffee soaks, dulce de leche filling, chocolate and pretzel crumbs, vanilla frosting, and rainbow sprinkles for my "bonus bite" on top. The Build-a-Cookie station, structured similarly, is $40 (the end product is also gigantic, at least for a cookie), and the soft serve Build-a-Pint, which you customize at the main counter, costs $15.
And there's more! The Mini Mart in the back is packed with Milk Bar swag, everything from pins and badges to skate decks and denim jackets, as well as Tosi's three cookbooks and groceries like chips, candy, and various packaged Milk Bar goods. A test kitchen on the lower level, called the Lab, opened on Sunday and will sell "never-before-seen-treats as we develop them" on the weekends. And if you want to send someone a card from the flagship, there's a whole arts-and-crafts counter, and Tosi will mail your creation for free.
The Milk Bar NYC Flagship is located at 1196 Broadway, at the corner of West 29th Street, and is open Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. (milkbarstore.com)
