There is an excellent article in this week’s New York Times, Turning to Jerks to Restore Allure of Soda Fountains,describing a potential trend in the return of the soda fountain.

Unlike most similar articles, rather than bemoan the end of the past, or offer a nostalgic look back, it takes on a tone similar to my book, looking both to the present and the future. Case in point:

Mr. Freeman is determined to avoid running a retro or theme restaurant selling nostalgia without content. “When the older people come in here and start talking about the sodas they used to get, I almost want to say, ‘I don’t care about your memories,’ ” he said. “Don’t screw this up for these kids by putting it in the past. This is happening now.”

What do you think?
The article also offers a fascinating new look at the Egg Cream, from one of NYC’s top restaurants:

In New York, a top-notch egg cream is required for anyone revisiting the fountain tradition, including the Swiss-born chef Daniel Humm. At Eleven Madison Park, one of the more rarefied dining rooms in Manhattan, Mr. Humm has engineered an egg cream course, served to every table between dinner and dessert. It is mixed tableside from vanilla-malt syrup, organic milk from the Catskills, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and New York seltzer squirted from old glass siphons. (This being a New York Times four-star restaurant, the sticky, scratched siphons — delivered weekly by one of the two remaining services in the city — are cleaned and polished before being allowed in the dining room.) “The foam on an egg cream should only last for about 30 seconds,” Mr. Humm said. “It’s like a little instant pleasure.”

Egg Cream as palette cleanser?
Here are some beautiful photos of the presentation from someone‘s blog: