On the town in New York

by Michael Batterberry

"This 25th Anniversary Edition of On the Town in New York celebrates the endearing history of how New Yorkers have been fed and watered over the years since Mr. Loosely, the last sycophant Troy tavern keeper, was chased from the King's Head following the evacuation of the redcoats. The Batterberrys move back and forth from the tres haut to the tres scummy; from 18th-century pubs where the no-nonsense fare was listed as "cold meat with a pint of good ale or cyder" to epicurean wonders of the Old Bank Coffee House where the proprietor, a certain Mr. Niblo, served up a smoking hot bear whole and standing - to the lowest lowdown gin mills, one of which was candidly named "The Road to Ruin." As the 19th century progressed, sociogustatorial whim spawned the Grand Hotel, the immigrant boarding house, ice cream parlor, oyster cellar, pleasure garden, beer hall, theatrical haunt, lobster palace, and greasy spoon of every description. Like the champagne at one of Elsa Maxwell's galas, the Batter