Food & Drink

Sweet street

2. Insomnia Cookies 405 Amsterdam Ave.Opened November 2010 
Kids are drawn to the jumbo deluxe cookies — in flavors like s’mores for $2.50 a pop.

2. Insomnia Cookies 405 Amsterdam Ave.Opened November 2010
Kids are drawn to the jumbo deluxe cookies — in flavors like s’mores for $2.50 a pop. (
)

I wasn’t long ago that a stretch of Amsterdam Avenue in the upper 70s was hailed a healthnik’s haven — with proliferating fitness clubs and yoga studios that cater to the Lululemon crowd.

That was then.

When the school bell rings with the start of classes this week, the UWS is expecting a major wave of youngsters to crash down — literally, from the sugar high — now that new candy emporium Sugar and Plumm has joined 16 Handles, Crumbs and Insomnia Cookies on the dessert drag.

The after-school kid crowd isn’t complaining, either.

Sugar and Plumm boasts 16 homemade flavors of ice cream, dozens of varieties of European-style chocolate, 64 candy bins and a dessert menu that could give anyone a toothache just reading it.

Claire, 15, frets over her back-to-school haircut — and what to order at the sweet spot. Like a heat-seeking missile, she finally zeroes in on her evening’s objective: the oft-tweeted Jack Tripper (the $7 signature sundae chock-full of brownie and blondie bites).

Along with best buds Taylor, Norma and Isabel, all from the nearby Calhoun School, the pals can practically taste the proximity.

“We were so excited for it to open,” gushes Taylor over mint chocolate chip ice cream. “I can’t wait till school starts so we can hang out here every day!”

Sugar and Plumm founder Lamia Jacobs lives by a strict dietary code of one dessert a day, and with five varieties of the signature “daily dose chocolate” — a $6 prepackaged chunk — Jacobs considers her Euro-style chocolate a serious cut above the competition of sickly sweet American brands.

“The idea is to bring excitement and happiness to the community,” says Jacobs, of the modern David Rockwell-designed space with accents like taffy light fixtures and lollipop door handles.

And at Sugar and Plumm, happiness abounds, though it doesn’t come cheap, with white chocolate bark priced at $28 a pound in the retail shop.

Eli and Aliah Banchik, a 12- and 13-year-old brother-and-sister duo from the UWS, behold the newcomer with wonder.

“It’s more than a chocolate shop,” marvels Eli on his first visit.

“Everything’s so shiny!” adds Aliah, who has high hopes for her Nutella crepe.

Their dad, Jake’s Dilemma and Gin Mill owner Mitchell Banchik, also gives it a thumbs up. “It’s a really nice place for teens to hang out,” he says. “There’s nothing else like this.”

Parents can order off of the “bistro” menu, which features dishes such as $15 chicken and waffles, or the decadent cocktail list: “The Staycation” mixes bacon-infused bourbon, vanilla ice cream, chocolate and cold-brew coffee ($16).

Mom Lauren Hamburger, 32, from the UWS, welcomes the dessert diversion on a late summer afternoon. “It’s big and cute. Moms can come with kids during the day. I can spend $2 on a lollipop and she’ll be happy,” she says, nodding to 2-year-old daughter Orly’s treat.

But not all parents are sweet on it.

“We are supposed to be leading healthier lives. Yet somehow my neighborhood became a mecca for sugary treats, and the area is filled with land mines of empty calories,” writes Barbara Woods, a member of the West 75th Street Block Association, in an essay calling for a “desperate need for cupcake zoning laws.”

But according to Sugar and Plumm COO Ed Rosenthal, there’s demand for his shop.

“It’s either Chuck E. Cheese or Babbo — either a child-centered or adult-centered experience [in NYC]. This fills a real hole in the marketplace.”

And judging by the crowds, he’s right.

Andrea Green, 44, of the UWS, and her three children, Siena, 11, Antonia, 10, and Oscar, 7, eagerly await their first visit as they pass by one early morning.

As Siena astutely observes, “It looks like Candy Land inside!”

SWEET STREET — The spots

1. Sugar and Plumm – 377 Amsterdam Ave. Opened August 2012

Lollipop doors lead to a wonderland of candy, ice cream, chocolate and more.

2. Insomnia Cookies 405 Amsterdam Ave.Opened November 2010

Kids are drawn to the jumbo deluxe cookies — in flavors like s’mores for $2.50 a pop.

3. 16 Handles 25 Amsterdam Ave.Opened April 2011

This fro-yo mecca boasts a slew of candy toppings that makes it feel like Halloween all year long.

4. Crumbs Bake Shop 350 Amsterdam Ave.Opened July 2010

You’ll find cupcakes both big and small here, in all manner of flavors, including black-bottom cheesecake brownie.