#1 by a ways - sauteed onion and garlic
Bacon
Pork or beef in a smoker
Fresh baked bread

I'm sure there are more if I think about it.

Not sure if it still exists, but the old fashion small boutique fortune cookie makers. I can still recall that combination of sweet & butter aroma, and always found an excuse to stroll into the shop. To this day, if I ever see one anywhere, I'll walk in and will probably loiter for at least 30 minutes before buying a few bags.

A weird childhood memory aroma: the smell of hot asphalt combined with the smell of deep-fried goodies. Will always remind me of childhood visits to Six Flags :)

Less weirdly: barbecue (Gates BBQ in Kansas City would be the one from which all are measured), chocolate brownies, my homemade chili and cornbread.

You guys have made me sad. My very favourite non-food smell is gunpowder.

And thanks to all the COVID restrictions and lockdowns I didn’t get any of my usual fixes this past year.
Maybe I should buy a box of matches and sit outside in the cold dark damp garden and spark them off one by one for a brief transformative sniff - like a less tragic, but infinitely more pathetic, (not so) Little Match Girl :(

Clove cigarettes
Baking bread
roasted meat

I never thought of that, but it would make so much sense! Now I want to research whether that's true...

Ha, I'm glad to know I wasn't the only weird kid who enjoyed that smell! Though, I stopped taking whiffs once my parents informed me the fumes kill brain cells :-(

As far as favorite food aromas:

• Sweet potatoes or butternut squash in the oven. (I just roasted some acorn squash this morning and the kitchen smelled amazing.)
• A freshly opened bag of coffee beans.
• Ripe pear.
• My grandmother's baked macaroni and cheese. (I think she uses at least four types of cheese.) Man, I really missed that at Thanksgiving and Christmas this past year - both the food and the smell of the house while it's baking. Hopefully we can gather for the holidays in 2021.

Marzipan, although you have to get close to smell it.

Whoa! Or, you can save your book of matches for a rainy day, and when things get better (hopefully soon), I'd imagine a week or two in HK during their extended CNY would be a blast for you.

PS - Glad to see you're doing well.

Thanks!
Once I get my motherload of fixes in Spain’s Alicante for the Hogueras/Fogueres around the June Summer Solstice I’ll be sorted.
The Valencian Fallas in March (close to the Spring Equinox) is larger and more famous, but there’s an energy and chaos at our Alicantinian fire festival/firework & traca competitions that brings me to myself, nowhere in the world I’d rather be (even with the imposition of two-three weeks of sleep deprivation). Ah, pólvora...

And to get back on topic:
The festival also brings with it the smell of fried churros - gleaming churro trucks arrive and use these irresistibly scented (and hugely overpriced) carb torpedos as a way to entice cash away from drunk revellers. Alas, they usually hand over the stale cold stock and keep the aromatic freshly prepared ones out to lure more rubes.
If you want churros in Alicante, there are still a handful of old skool bars where they’ll make and serve them as breakfast, don’t buy them from the trucks! That amazing smell? It’s a trap!!!

Baking bread
Baking chocolate chip cookies
Cinnamon rolls
Bacon
Roasting meat, although the quality of the smell can vary widely

Love the smell of garlic, but not if it's to the point that I know the food would be inedible (I can't tolerate large amounts in one sitting)

I used to annually attend the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California (where much of our garlic is grown). Even driving through the town, you are enveloped in the garlic fragrance. After a day at the festival all of your clothes, your hair, your shoes, your car, etc smell of garlic. It can be heavenly.
https://gilroygarlicfestival.com/

Im sorry I never made it to the festival when I lived on NorCal. I did see a tornado in Gilroy however.

Cinnamon is a good one. More than one realtor told us to throw some in the oven and apply a little heat prior to showings.

The smell of a smoker running, don't care what is on it, it will be good
Banana bread
Definitely bacon
I really like the smell of Old Bay seasoning too

Yeah, it is quite an experience. I think I went about 5 times...so fun. You wouldn't believe how much garlic they go through. It comes out your pores for days after you get back.

Awesome, that's on my bucket list. It does sound heavenly.
What's that restaurant in the Bay area that puts garlic in every dish? I've seen it on TV. Probably a bit of a gimmick, but I would love to try it out.