Along with many business owners I am not a huge fan of Yelp. I prefer to talk to my customers face to face. When I do respond to online reviews, good or bad, I do my best to be polite and sensitive to the person's point of view. Once in awhile though someone pushes my buttons and I need to respond from the heart. In this case someone submitted a review on Yelp claiming that The Bakery's Black and White Cookies were "not good" because they "should be more cake like". Here is the response I posted:
"I don't usually respond to reviews this way, but you have stated something as if it were a fact that is simply wrong. Everyone has their own idea about how foods should taste and there is no point to arguing about that.
However Black and White Cookies along with Rugulah, Macaroons, Butter Cookies, Babka, Challah, Bagels, Bialys and a few other items are our signature products and we are extremely proud of them. I grew up in Brooklyn during the 1950's and I practically lived on Black and White Cookies. When I opened my bakery almost 40 years ago I went back to the bakeries that I grew up with and spoke to the old time bakers and learned how to make these products so that my Black and Whites and other products were as authentic as could be using old school recipes and techniques.
While it may be true that many bakeries and especially supermarket bakeries today make these cookies as you say "cake like" that is not how an authentic Black and White Cookie should taste.
I have always run my business with the assumption that the customer is always right and we do take all criticism seriously, but there is also a responsibility when you are part of a tradition to make sure that authenticity prevails even if modern tastes sometimes change.”
