You’ve heard of guilt-free desserts, but how about ones that are socially conscious? AANY contributor Kelly Moore takes Metro-North to Greyston Bakery…
I often have guests come to visit me in New York, and that’s when I get to do all of that fun stuff I never have time to do otherwise: go to Ellis Island, take the elevator to the Top of the Rock, eat tons of cheesecake. I had a guest this past weekend, though, who had something else in mind. She wanted to take Metro-North to Yonkers to visit a bakery that specializes in brownies. What the hell, I thought. It’s easy enough to catch a train at Grand Central.
Greyston Bakery’s motto seems to be, “We don’t hire people to bake brownies; we bake brownies to hire people.” It was founded by a Zen Buddhist priest named Bernie Glassman. As part of the Greyston Foundation, the bakery provides fair wages, benefits, and training to low-income and otherwise so-called “unemployable” people. The mission is more social than culinary, but I must say that the brownies were excellent. We bought a dozen.
You’ve actually probably had the brownies yourself at some point—they can be found in some flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and many top restaurants in the city list them on their menus. These “do-goodie” brownies (and blondies, my favorite) would make a great gift for someone. And you can order online if you can’t make it up to Yonkers yourself! Check out their website here.
Greyston Bakery is located at 104 Alexander Street, Yonkers, NY.
