Whole Earth Bakery & Kitchen

This is a cute, healthy-desserts bakery. Everything's vegan and mostly organic. Given that I'm partial to healthier desserts these days (i.e. no white flour, no refined sugar), this place suits me well.

I had a chewy brownie ($4), a slice of chocolate peanut butter cheesecake ($6), a chocolate walnut cookie ($3) and a hemp flax cookie ($2).

There's very little space inside here, so I took my goods to go and ate on a bench in Tompkins Square Park next door.

The brownie was awesome in flavor, if just a tad crumbly. The cookie was also excellent, and not dry or hard at all. The walnut really accented the chocolate chips well. The hemp flax cookie was unusual and while it wasn't my favorite, I can't say that I disliked it either. I appreciate that it's a risky offering and probably an acquired taste. Lastly, the cheesecake had a raw flavor (I think it was a raw dessert, but I'm not sure) and while I wasn't terribly fond of it, my friends enjoyed it the most (and none of them are vegan).

All told, I would definitely return to Whole Earth Bakery. If they had more seating (why not set up some tables outside with their ample sidewalk space?) and accepted credit cards, I'd be back all the time, just to try something new and unusual.

I like the feel of this place but I can't say the food is my favorite. I'm glad that they are committed to veganism (they've been serving vegan food WAAAY longer than most places), and are making an effort to providing the community with healthy food, but I think a lot of their food is too healthy for my taste. I've had their veggie pizza a few times and the roasted vegetables on it are very good, but it's an all-vegetable (no vegan cheese) pizza on whole wheat crust, so it just doesn't hit the spot when I want some greasy goodness.

I feel the same way about their desserts. I think they try too hard to make them healthy (I think they use no refined sugars, flours, etc.) so they come out tasting dry and more like semi-sweet biscuits instead of cookies or muffins. One of the employees recommended the flax chocolate cookie to me but I didn't really like it. It tasted like a solid flax bar with a little chocolate in it. It was dry and tasted more like an energy bar than a cookie.

However, I really like the feel of the place (especially since they've remodeled the interior and there is more room to stand and sit). The staff is very friendly and there are always loyal regulars inside that are quick to start a conversation with you.