Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I have lived among the country's best oyster beds my whole life. I've been eating oysters since I was a toddler and shucking them since I was seven. Eating raw oysters is a most glamorous, romantic waste of delicious shellfish.

The art and romance of "eating" oysters is a case of the emperor wearing no clothes. A huge majority of people who "eat" them, simply swallow them - no chewing, no tasting. The courageous act of slurping down the slimy, gray blob seems to be the major attraction. And repeat customers are often posing as pretentious sophisticates, slathering them in lemon juice and cocktail sauce to mask the flavor.

I suggest cooking them. Whether you steamed them open, stew them or pan-fry them, you'll find that the flavor of the oyster become more complex and interesting than any raw oyster anyone ever ate. Pan-frying is my favorite - and my family always saves a few to eat cold at breakfast.

(And @butterfingers is right. The month with R rule is about the temperature of the waters they're harvested from - not about refrigeration. But this is for the casual harvester. The oyster and restaurant industries do a great job of providing safe oysters year-long.)

Carnitas. We have a great local place that serves goat carnitas and it's become my favorite.

Have meringues been the new "it" food? If they haven't, they should be.

It's sort of touristy, but the food at Mo's Chowder in Newport, Oregon is pretty good and they always make you feel welcome.

There are some wholesale options online - www.sks-bottle.com, is just one example. It would certainly be a cost-effective way to go, but the choices might be disappointing aesthetically.

I always dash up to Big Tom's when the plumbing's running a little slow. We've nicknamed it the High-Colonic Burger.

french bread, mayo, dijon, arugula and chunky diced onions

The breakfast links my nonna would cook for me with a poached egg, toast and fruit she'd put up that summer (the cherries were my favorite).

New York

Deviled eggs - plain, no "flourishes"

Radio host Frank DeCaro keeps a more kitschy collection at his website.

His featured recipe this month: Sal Mineo's Quick Pizza Snacks
http://www.frankdecaro.com/site/recipes.htm

And a 129-recipe archive featuring such tantilizing treats as Lesley Gore's Snick Snack Hamburgers; Liberace’s Sticky Buns and Neil Sedaka's VooDoo Chicken.
http://www.frankdecaro.com/site/recipes_archives.htm

I like most wait people too, they have a hard job and most of them are terrific. My worst experience was in an unnamed Thomas Keller restaurant the food was terrific but the waiter spoke to us as if we were boobs who had never eaten anywhere but a Denny's. Quite annoying.

(I left a KFC wetnap with his tip.)

(And yes, we tipped sufficiently.)

Steak and bananas foster.