The Best?

I'm not sure how this rates across the country, but since 1960 Mr. Bartley has been selling burgers —often named after politicians, Boston sports figures or Harvard faculty. In keeping with the times you can now order a turkey burger or a veggie burger with the same toppings. This is serious eating—elbow to elbow—delectable if you love burgers.

The sign makes me contemplate my own list of Best—perhaps not in America—but in my own emporium of cooking delights.

My list includes the candy store in the Bronx that sold the longest saltiest pretzels. When you used that pretzel to scoop up ice cream it tasted like manna from heaven.

And pickles. Not the type of pickles that come in a a glass jar, but pickles that you find in large containers on the Lower East Side. Most of the pickle places have closed up, but a few remain. Guss' Pickles still sells half sours. And they still mix corriander, mustard seed, bay leaves, peppercorns, red peppers and garlic for their pickles.

Then there are the best roasted chestnuts. I bought them from a stand in front of the old Museum of Modern Art . There are still chestnut stands and they are in the same neighborhood.

My favorite best was a roasted marshmallow dipped in jelly or sometimes a fig or prune dipped in jelly. The only place to get these delectable treats was in the Bronx.

I'm certain that I must have some sophisticated choices. Yes, my absolutely best meal is at Thurstons Lobster Pound in Bernard, ME. 

Nothing tops a succulent lobster caught in the waters off the coast of Me and prepared outdoors—"in the rough". That is the best.