May 6, 2012 – We punctuated a restless night, which included a red eye flight from LAX to JFK, with a trip to Mile End Delicatessen. We received an introduction to the wonders of bagelach, horseshoe shaped “rugelach” filled with buttermilk curd, served with cream cheese and dried cherries.

May 6, 2012 – Mile End had some great baked goods, but we couldn’t resist the raised donuts at Dough, a recommendation from Nastassia Johnson (Let Me Eat Cake).

May 6, 2012 – Toby’s Estate Coffee had another former Angeleno on site – roaster Deaton Pigot – who pointed us toward the pourover bar and Colombia Paez coffee.

May 6, 2012 – Mast Brothers Chocolate expanded since my last visit and added a handy cartoon that explains the chocolate making process.

May 7, 2012 – We spotted Lurisia, my people’s water, at Murray’s Cheese.

May 7, 2012 – La Churreria, a new churro specialist in Nolita, made the fritters to order and served them with dark chocolate dipping sauce.

May 7, 2012 – A trip to the revived 456 Shanghai Cuisine flashed me back to my youth, and to the Fried Yellow Fish w. Tofu Curd Skin with salt dip. It wasn’t as crispy as I remembered, but that was about 30 years ago, and I was barely old enough to tie my shoes.

May 7, 2012 – Joe’s Shanghai more than remedied the trippy time warp with their scintillating rice cakes, pan-fried with cabbage and pork.

May 8, 2012 – Peels allows customers to mix and match their biscuits with myriad fillings. My pick was thin-sliced, griddled country ham, which didn’t bring to mind my college-era country ham in Nashville, but was pretty good to end a long walk.

May 8, 2012 – Vandaag pulled Ecco Caffe espresso and served the demitasse with a spoon of brown sugar and a small shortbread cookie.

May 9, 2012 – Our final breakfast consisted of Ceci Cela croissants, supposedly some of the best in New York. Pretty good, but they left me longing for Parker-Lusseau Pastries.