Stepping into The Blue Mill Tavern is like stepping back in time – and this is retro done right. It helps that this eatery resides on a sleepy, slight curve of a street in the West Village, making The Blue Mill’s bustle seem like an apparition when you finally stumble across it. Inside, swinging jazz fills the air, and the décor conjures an old-fashioned elegance reminiscent of train stations full of suspenseful romance, with a huge Parisian art deco clock hanging over the wooden bar and round deco stools pulled up to it. The all-American menu completes the nostalgia with dishes thoughtfully picked from the past, but prepared with the Astoria’s Waldorf salad, prime rib with popovers and steak tartare or caramelized onion tarts recall a different era. The Blue Mill Tavern is an essential neighborhood haunt, akin to Chumley’s (Both share partner Steve Shlopak), another hidden gem found just down the street.