Koco's Pub
Hamilton, a working-class neighborhood, northeast of downtown Baltimore, is home to a brightly painted pub called Koco’s. Initially a local tavern, with numerous pool tables and limited seating, the place has evolved into a destination pub. What put Koco’s on the map? Their baseball-sized broiled lump meat crab cakes, now served in two sizes: 7 ounces and 11 ounces. Patrons can order Koco’s crab cake by itself accompanied by crackers, lettuce, tomato and pickle; as a sandwich with chips and pickle; with a Caesar salad or the original crab cake platter with French fries, coleslaw, lettuce and tomato. No fancy tableware here, heavy paper plates underline the Old Bay dusted crab cake accompaniments. What makes this crab cake one of the best in the city? The quality and amount of crab meat, no filler, and not too heavily seasoned. The pool tables have disappeared and the table tops have all expanded with Old Bay seasoning shakers. What was once a one-trick pony, Koco’s Pub is a destination pub with an expanded menu including a tasty shrimp salad sandwich with whole, large shrimp and Maryland crab soup. Ex-Marylanders and out-of-towners can have Koco’s crab cakes ship to them.

Kumpel & Keule
Kumpel & Keule is a contemporary Berlin butcher with a ground-breaking focus on quality and transparency. Located in the Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg, this is not only a great place to buy meat but also a prime spot for a grilled sausage, burger or steak. The secret is that you can ask them to throw anything in the display on the barbecue for you. The best thing you can eat here is a thick slice of their grilled"Fleischkäse." Essentially a sausage in loaf form, the butcher will it put in a white roll for you with an uncanny amount of spicy, German mustard. Their burger is also good.

Sirichai
Come for the Chicken Rice and stay for the Khao Soi, Northern Thailand's signature dish. The red and yellow curry is Burmese inspired. Handfuls of bright yellow egg noodles are scooped into bowls and topped with a braised chicken leg, ladles of fragrant, oil-slicked broth, a handful of fried noodles and a drizzle of coconut cream. Add a little chilli to it with fish sauce, onions and other Thai herbs that come as condiments to the dish for an amazing meal. At Sirichai, the Chicken Rice and the Khao Soi are served with the most delectable poached chicken imaginable. There are two other well-known versions of Khao Soi in Chiang Mai. The version served at the original Lamduon Fahrm (celebrated by Serious Eats) is quite sweet. The superior version at Khun Yai, championed by Bangkok FoodieHub expert Mark Wiens, is a spicier, tastier version.

Rutt's Hut
Housed in a Tudor-style building with a bar, a restaurant and a fast-food area, this cash-only, no-frills institution has been serving deep-fried hot dogs since 1928. “Rippers” are beef and pork hot dogs deep-fried New Jersey-style until the skin cracks and splits while the inside remains soft and lovely. An "in and outer” resembles a traditional hot dog, while the cremator is black and crunchy all the way through. Rutt’s spicy-sweet relish is a dense yellow condiment made from onions, finely chopped carrots, onions, cabbage and mustard, and is really special. Just ask for “Twins, all the way,” meaning a pair of rippers with mustard and relish.

La Meissounière
Sausage intestines, snails and bone marrow are all on offer at this back-street treasure. Yes, you can get steak frites at this unpretentious restaurant serving perfectly executed French cuisine. But if you are in the south of France, you must try these delicious classics. The coarse-grained sausage made with pork, pepper, wine, onions and seasonings is with served with a robust mustard sauce.

Bar Virgile
Bar Virgile is owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of certified sommelier Aubrey Zinaich-Howell and CIA graduate Scott Howell. Bar Virgile sources many of its ingredients locally and menus change regularly, based on what ingredients are in season. It’s the perfect place for a casual meal and a sophisticated bar upscale experience with perfect lighting and friendly professional service. I have enjoyed their charcuterie plate and, most recently, a nicely presented and delicious flat iron steak with shiitake mushrooms.

Carson Kitchen
When Carson Kitchen opened in June 2014, it begat a food revolution in downtown Las Vegas the likes of which Sin City had never seen. Since then, a dozen more worthwhile eateries have opened in its wake, but it remains the culinary leader to this day, and a tough table to score any day of the week. Even with the passing of founder Kerry Simon, the cooking remains as innovative and drop-your-fork-tasty as it did when the rock-and-roll chef was overseeing things. We know Kerry would approve of this turducken pot pie – a playful take on the ultimate stuffed bird -- that mixes three kinds of fowl (turkey, chicken, duck) and bathes them in an old-fashioned cream sauce that would make Betty Crocker proud. Top it all off with buttermilk biscuit crumble and you have the ultimate in comfort food, in a casual setting that belies just how serious this place is about its cooking.

Michael Mina
Michael Mina –both the man and the restaurant – have been a fixture in Las Vegas since 1998. Firmly anchoring a corner of the Bellagio Conservatory, this Tony Chi-designed room is as sleek and chic as the day it opened. Even better, the food is as elegant and timeless as ever. Everyone raves about the lobster pot pie, tuna tartare and caviar parfait, and truth be told, you won’t find better versions anywhere in the country, but it’s in the seasonal items where Executive Chef Ben Jenkins really gets to strut his stuff. This deceptively simple little beauty combines the freshest of Spring peas with gorgeous radishes and piquant boquerones, all of it atop a pea-remoulade sauce that tastes like green-goddess dressing with a higher education. It’s almost too pretty to eat and definitely too delicious to share. Between the room, the food, the spot-on service, and the impressive wine program, MM is that rarest of restaurants: one that keeps getting better and better.

Marcelino Pan y Vino
It is hard to stand out with breakfast tacos, but at this East Austin taquería, they do it twice. First, the egg and bacon taco has a deep rich filling of crispy, caramelized bacon. And second, the egg and sausage taco is made with local sausages from the nearby town of Elgin. Make sure you specify the Elgin sausage taco. The tortillas are handmade in front of you and the salsa sauces are very good. Tacos are $1.85 each.

Salt + Smoke
St. Louis barbeque normally leads with pork. Here is an exception: The brisket sandwich at Salt + Smoke is superb. This isn’t your run-of- the-mill ‘que joint. The sides are thoughtful (a cheddar-bacon popover?), and there are craft beers and a cocktail menu. The beef is as tender as butter, and the sandwich wears a smear of mayonnaise flavored with burnt ends. For crunch and panache, they toss on a handful of tobacco onions, thin shreds that are deep-fried. There are lots of other good options from the smoker: chicken wings, trout and smoked tomatoes on a sandwich and a cheddar-jalapeno bologna (an American take on mortadella sausage) sandwich with chow-chow relish (a tart, chopped vegetable mix) are all notable. Of course, there are the traditional barbecue meats, like pork and chicken. Plus falafel so the vegetarians aren’t left out of the fun. Like many barbeque spots, they close when they run out of food. But here, that tends to be fairly late in the evening.