[Photo: Kathy YL Chan] S'more meets chocolate cupcake ($3) in this creation at the bakery counter of Peels. It starts with a classic chocolate cupcake base, so moist and dense it's practically devil's food. It comes topped with a... More

Just barely an inch in height, it's plush with a fine crumb and that slightly crunchy texture from polenta, the overall cake only faintly sweet. It comes brushed in orange marmalade and thin slices of orange, rind and all. Morning or afternoon, practically perfect when devoured warm with a pot of tea. More

With his burly physique, shaved head, and cauliflower ears, Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria's head baker looks like the wrong kind of guy you'd want to meet down a back alley in Bordeaux. And you'd be right: as a youth in France, Kamel Saci was a professional judo champion. But in his basement bakery, a completely different side to his personality comes out. For Kamel, dough is not an opponent to be beaten into submission; it responds best to a minimum of handling, the gentler the better. The results show his techniques work. Il Buco's ovens produce some of the crustiest and most flavorsome artisan loaves in the city. More

This Apple Pie ($5) isn't available at Peels every day. You just have to get lucky, step up to the bakery counter, and cross your fingers. More

Even to a bean-lover like myself, a white bean sandwich doesn't necessarily sound promising; you've got to dress up beans a lot before they're a strongly flavored filling. But that's just what The Smile does with their Rosemary White Bean Spread sandwich ($10.50). More

If you've ever wanted your sugar snap peas to taste more like potato chips, Minted Sugar Snap Peas ($6)* from The Smile are the snack for you. More

"Roasted chicken breast" and "roasted red peppers" are usually two ingredients that, in the world of sandwiches, leave me cold. But the Harissa Honey Roasted Chicken breast ($11.50) at The Smile was a fine sandwich indeed. More

The time has come for me to come clean and play my best card: Bianca. A wonderful little Italian place, and perhaps my favorite restaurant in the city. More

Both pimento fans and cheesesteak purists might object to the naming of this sandwich (you might as well call it a po' boy, and get that camp riled up too!), but the Pimiento Cheesesteak ($10) at Peels is a pretty tasty thing. More

The basement space at the corner of Broadway and Bleecker has taken many forms throughout its existence, but perhaps none as interesting as its original: a mid-19th century hangout for America's original bohemians. Charles Pfaff's beer cellar was long a waterhole for a group of literary thinkers such as Walt Whitman and Henry Clapp Jr., who were promoting such radical ideas as abolitionism during the Civil War era. (Gives a whole new meaning to "countercultural," doesn't it?) More