Weekend drives just got better thanks to a longtime baker and her Yorktown Heights cookie shed.
Alina Vizioli started Lina's Cookie drops in July after stepping off the career track eight years ago to devote herself to her son, who has autism. As he's older and doing well, the Culinary Institute of America grad, who worked at various high-end restaurants such as The Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, Tarry Lodge in Port Chester and Restaurant North in Armonk, believed now is the perfect time to return to the field she loves.
Baking cookies was the logical next step as as she's super serious about them and has always received compliments (and requests!) from friends and family. After receiving her New York Home Processor Registration, she was off and running.
However, the question became how to sell them.
The answer, it turned out, was close to home. As in the end of her driveway thanks to a shed her father built (he's a custom home builder).
The shed, which operates on the honor system (meaning customers can pay with cash or Venmo, grab a bag, and fill it with whichever treats they'd like), comes out once a week on weekends — cookie lovers have to check her social media for the exact day. As she loves chatting with people, she's often there, too, getting ideas and inspiration from customers.
"I often spend my entire time talking to people," she said. "That's what makes me happy."
As for her cookies, expect eight to nine different homemade flavors, along with a rotating brownie and cookie pie. The menu changes regularly and is inspired by the seasons. She also takes suggestions.
"If the local firefighter asks for the kitchen sink cookie I'm on it for the next week," she said.
Sample flavors include chocolate chip, red velvet, honey cornbread, pumpkin Snickerdoodle, Maddy's Crumb Cake, chocolate peanut butter crunch, dark chocolate mint Oreo, salted caramel apple, coconut pecan, Biscoff white chocolate, brown sugar pop tart, gluten-free iced oatmeal and gluten-free vanilla latte.
She bakes about 125 to 150 cookies per week with chocolate chip always on the menu. The cookies are large 5-plus-ounce versions that are $4 each.
Vizioli said she came up with the shed idea because she wanted to add some lightness to people's days.
"Life is tough; maybe it will change that for someone even if it's for five minutes," she said.
The shed is also "a little something" for her. "It's something I can handle while having a full-time job, son and household," she said. "Being in the food industry isn't an option for me anymore. That's something that was put on the back burner years ago. This is keeping my passion for food and hospitality alive while balancing all the other things."
She also gets joy from seeing others smile.
Said Vizioli: "There's something so special about seeing someone’s face light up over a cookie or brownie, and I believe it's hard not to feel a little happier after picking up one of my treats."
If you go
Address: 264 Andrea Road, Yorktown Heights, 914-714-4862
Good to know: She's playing it by ear for winter with shed drops in January and February still a question mark. If it's too cold or snowy, she may take cookie batch orders until she can open the shed again. Follow her on social media for updates at @linascookieshed.
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Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: A weekend cookie shed? Westchester baker serving up flavors, delight
