Navigate to News section

Return of the Egg Cream

The soda-fountain classic is making a hip new comeback

by
Stephanie Butnick
September 09, 2015
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
Shutterstock
Shutterstock

Egg creams are having a moment. (Again.) In this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, Kathleen Squires explains why you should order the egg cream—that fizzy, frothy refreshment which quizzically “contains neither eggs nor cream,” and whose old-school charm is being refurbished by hip new vendors in New York City and beyond.

Of course, how each modern-day establishment makes its egg creams is distinct and purposeful. It’s fitting for the soda fountain staple, whose craft and creation has long been the subject of much debate—“whether syrup or milk comes first in the glass; the force with which the seltzer is streamed in; the vigorousness of the final, froth-producing stir,” Squires explains.

Squires credits The Hangover actor Justin Bartha and writers Emil Stern and Sigmund Stern with helping fuel the latest egg cream resurgence. The trio, you may recall, is behind “King of the Egg Cream,” the Tablet-produced radio play about a syrupy egg cream racket in 1920s New York. You can download “King of the Egg Cream” here. It’s perfect to listen to while enjoying—what else—a nice, cool egg cream.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.