Rising star: COBS Bread opens
New bakery features scratch-made breads, pastries, bagels, and more.
BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK
Batter up District manager Kelley (center) and his dream team of helpers.
If you’ve driven along Post Road lately, you may have seen the COBS Bread sign peeking out from the shopping center in which Kumo Sushi is located. The bakery is set to open officially on September 26th, but it’s already on a roll, so to speak. A visit on Wednesday found the shop up and running, bursting with baguettes, cinnamon buns, mini pizzas, and more.
“Originally we were going to open on the nineteenth, but we needed to find just the right rock star team,” said district manager Zack Kelley. “This is our first [bakery] in Westchester County, so we really wanted to make sure we stepped out on the right foot.” Several smiling faces behind the counter, all eager to wait on customers, assures the store is firing on all oven pilot lights.
Until now, COBS fans had to drive to Greenwich, Stamford, or Westport to get their fill of pillowy croissants and blueberry-cheese danishes. It was either that or drive out to one of the Long Island locales, such as Merrick. The 44-year-old chain itself actually began in Australia, where it has more than 600 bakeries. It’s also a not-uncommon sight in Canada, which boasts nearly 200 COBS shops. “And then just a little over a year ago, we decided to set our sights to the U.S., and really start to make our splash here,” Kelley said.
Hot stuff A jalapeno twist is one of the intriguing savory breads COBS sells.
The question arises—or rises, as it were: Why is COBS confident in can be a standout in a neighborhood that already boasts everything from Parisian tarts to lavish custom cakes? “The big thing we look at when we look at the areas we’re in is the community,” Kelley said. “We found that bakeries that were really involved in the community—for example, with the schools, the local clubs, all of those types of things—were the most successful. And it is part of our mission and values to be the favorite bakery in every community.” The store has partnered with Feeding Westchester, and plans to donate between $1,000 and $1,200 worth of unsold goods at the end of each day.
The hardest part of visiting COBS is deciding what to buy: that crunchy seeded bread? A cheese pullapart? That thingy with the jalapeno and cheddar? Kelley says the top-selling bread is their sourdough loaf. “Remember back in COVID, when everyone sort of experimented with sourdough? It’s a twenty-four hour process, start to finish, to make our sourdough, and we make it a traditional way. So we have a levain [starter mixture of water and flour] that we feed, keep alive, grow, and take care of every single day like a little baby.” COBS also has a “higher-fiber loaf,” which tastes just like white bread but is made with an oat bran to give it more than double the amount of fiber.
Every bun under the sun From soft to crunchy, you'll find your fave here.
If you’re looking for something sweet, “our scones are really, really excellent,” Kelley says. “They’re made with real butter. They’re not what you think of when you think of a scone—dry and and crumbly. Ours are really moist and packed with flavor. We just tweaked the recipe on our chocolate one and it’s so awesome. When you bring it home, if you put it in the microsave and serve it with a scoop of ice cream, it tastes like a brownie. It’s got that deep, dense richness. But you can’t go wrong with our pumpkin scone, and we've got a couple of fun scones coming up for the winter holidays, too.”
Actually, it sounds like you can’t go wrong with anything at COBS. Let us know what you think in the comments. Oh, and step aside, please—that jalapeno cheddar thing looks interesting.
7 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-Sat; 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun; 77 White Plains Rd.; 914-202-9928