Side-view of a classic plate of Cincinnati five-way chili. The crown of shredded cheddar is melting from the heat of the meat layer below.

What is missing from this picture of two ten-inch chili dogs? The answer, of course, is mustard. A line of the right yellow stuff finishes off the sweet, meaty chili with authority.

There's not a better roast beef sandwich this side of Boston. Note the double layer of meat, separated by lettuce and tomato.

Cherry-Berry-Nut Mix: trail mix of the gods

A pinwheel of cheese & parsley sausage, for sale at Faicco's.

This is a Bocco bread sandwich of grilled chicken and Portobello mushrooms with melted cheese. The bread has a nice crunch ... and note the sweet-potato fries on the side.

This hearty bowl of chicken dumpling soup was the perfect tonic on a blustery Wisconsin winter afternoon.

Today, June 13, was to be the grand reopening party for Poppy's Burgers & Fries of Beacon, New York. But because "flash floods and burgers don't really mix" (according to Poppy's Facebook page), the event has been rescheduled for next Thursday, June 20, starting at 4:30pm. We are salivating in anticipation.

Essex Seafood may be mainly a lobster pound, but this is the North Shore of Massachusetts and their fried clams (here mixed with onion rings) are world class.

Zingerman's began as a small deli and has become a culinary empire that includes a bustling mail order business, a creamery, a bake house, a coffee shop, and a full-service "roadhouse" (review of that last one is forthcoming). While not every such achievement proves the adage that they must be doing something right, I would say that Zingerman's deserves success for the unbelievable number of things it does not just right, but fantastically well.

There is no point to enumerate them all, but foremost on any short list of the deli's wonders are its sandwiches made with top-notch ingredients (Nueske's bacon, Amish free-range chicken, Niman Ranch pastrami, Michigan-grown vegetables, Italian salami, Arkansas ham, smoked salmon from Maine, et cetera). They are constructed on slices of what is in my opinion the best bread in the Midwest – world-class baguettes, ryes, rolls, sourdoughs, chile-cheddar, pecan raisin and challah. I won't even get into such peripheral (NOT) items as pickles, olive tapenade, smoked fish salads, and multiple cheese spreads, including the best pimiento cheese this side of Paducah.

It is a place I find immensely frustrating because a single visit or six visits will not even put a bite into all the good things there are to eat … and to see and to smell when you walk in to place an order. Getting food, in fact, can be a little confusing to a first timer. You enter the shockingly small deli, which is primarily a retail operation selling meats, breads, cheeses, etc., and browse the menu posted all over the wall. While you are figuring out what you want and probably getting hypnotized by the beautiful foodstuffs on display, a server will approach to take your order and your name. You are given a check that you take to a register and pay. Find a seat and in a while your food will be brought to you. Unlike the classic New York deli staff, people who work here are friendly, helpful, and patient; and they are full of recommendations if you can't decide between, say halloumi and muenster cheese.

Yes, Zingerman's is more expensive than an average sandwich shop. A BLT is $9.50 or $10.99 depending on size; grilled cheese is $6.50-$7.99. But what you get is far superior to, and considerably bigger than, an average sandwich.