At the oldest bialy bakery in the United States the work is done by 9 o’clock in the morning. So to enjoy that irresistible smell of onions roasting inside a pocket of freshly baked bread, you have be downtown early. Eat them while they’re hot or take them home to toast – anything in between, as I discovered, is meh! Kosser’s has been making bialys, and more recently bagels, since 1936, and the rustic wooden trays and dusting of flour makes it seem as though nothing has changed much since then. A few blocks away the temptation of delicious chewy focaccia from Breads Bakery or moist olive bread from Maison Kayser make for seriously good alternatives, but the romance of the past is making a comeback all over town.

Soda fountains and egg creams are trending at Hamilton’s in the West Village where Richie Cunningham and the Fonz would be completely at home. Fizzes and phosphates feature on a menu with canary puffs and cattawaba flips, and while these were never part of my happy days, the chrome thud of the ice-cream lids sparks memories of Bruggies in Tumby Bay on a hot summer’s day. Discovering that egg creams do not actually involve eggs and that they are numero uno with the local walking tours, I deferred to the popular choice. But chocolate with bubbly water and no ice-cream is a foreign flavor for me, tasting more like the last straw when all the ice had melted. Next time I’ll go for a raspberry rickey, and time my visit later in the day when age dictates the addition of a little gin…