Leske’s Bakery
Bear Claw
PB&J Donut
Black & White Cookie
Opened in the early 1960s by German immigrants, the property eventually closed, sold and reopened under the same name twice, Leske’s Bakery has been a part of the Bay Ridge dining scene for the better part of 50 years, the Danishes and Streusels still available along with Cookies and Loaves, though the tightly packed space on 5th Avenue is probably best known today for making old-school Donuts and Brooklyn’s best Black & White Cookie.
Still working with many of the original staff and recipes, particularly as relates to time honored classics, patrons entering Leske’s will likely be struck by the over-crowded layout of a space where cooling racks have spilled over to standing space in aisles and in front of glass cases, very few of the items within labeled by either description or price while the staff seems more interested in the day’s gossip than actually selling the products.
Brushing off being ignored by Brooklynites, the aloof nature of family owned shops like Totonno’s or Peter Pan mostly just a part of the culture, it was with a total of four items bagged at $7.52 cash that the order was taken elsewhere for indulgence, the Almond Bear Claw an impressive specimen with flaky Pastry wrapped around sugary ground Nuts with a crispy layer of the same baked crisp on top.
At this point owned by entrepreneurial Brothers-in-Law, though nothing about the space or concept seems corporate at all, further tastes of Leske’s included a fried Donut stuffed to bursting with Grape Jelly and beneath thick Peanut Butter Frosting, the Black & White truly as good as they get with a Vanilla-cake base approximating the taste of Shortbread and the topping traditional Frosting as opposed to Fondant, the combination making for something that is soft and delicate, tearing apart rather than breaking when bit.
