Fifty-Two Weekends: Food & Dining

Ribs, Rubs, R & B

Memphis has more than just Graceland and the King to offer: It has ribs. The River City is the cultural dividing line between Eastern "wet" ribs - marinated, grilled, and painted with sauce - and Western "dry" ribs, which are rubbed with spices before they're cooked. The finest wet rib joint is Corky's (901-685-9744, from $40 for two). Its dry rival is the Rendezvous (901-523-2746, from $40 for two) - really, you'd better visit both. If you like hole-in-the wall pit stops, try Payne's (901-272-1523, from $20 for lunch for two) for their BBQ sandwich, and Interstate Bar-B-Que (901-775-2304, less than $20 for lunch for two) for BBQ spaghetti. Owner Jim Neely's recipe replaces conventional tomato sauce with tender pulled pork in barbecue sauce. Stay at The Peabody (901-529-4000, www.peabodymemphis.com, from $215). - Larry Olmsted

Chowder Without Borders

Air Canada Jazz now flies to Halifax, Nova Scotia, a city that, like Boston, takes its chowder seriously. At Salty's (902-423-6818, from about $100 for two) on the waterfront, the choices are impressive, with seafood, lobster, and crab-and-corn varieties. The Five Fishermen (902-422-4421, from about $75 for two) adds poached leeks, and the haute Chives Canadian Bistro (902-420-9626, from about $75 for two), adds a touch of fennel. You'll need a place to rest between bowls, and Cambridge Suites (902-420-0555, www.cambridgesuiteshalifax.com, from about $110) is well situated near downtown restaurants as well as those in the vibrant Spring Garden district. - Wayne Curtis

Bite of the Past

Taste the sweet richness of New England's pomological heritage at the November 5 and 6 CiderDay festivities in Franklin County. At farms in and around Colrain and Deerfield (see ciderday.org for schedules and addresses), sample slices from dozens of varieties with names like King David, Roxbury Russet, and Westfield-Seek-No-Further. Stock up for the winter with apples by the peck, as well as jams, jellies, honey, cider and West County Cider's hard ciders. Hurry, though - rooms get snapped up. In Deerfield, try the Deerfield Inn (800-926-3865, www.deerfieldinn.com, from $195) and in Charlemont, the Warfield House Inn at Valley View Farm (888-339-8439, warfieldhouseinn.com; from $89). - Patricia Harris and David Lyon

3 Day Getaway: Eat Like a No-Cal Local

As food movements go, local is the new organic, and few places bring the concept to life better than San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace, the indoor-outdoor heart of a city already in love with its food and wine industries - now all under one historic restored roof.

Sure, you could eat less than 2 miles away at the famous Zuni Cafe, explore the growing second Chinatown around Clement Street, or even head over to Berkeley in hopes of getting a seat at The Cafe at Chez Panisse. But in a city with a bounty of good restaurants that's surrounded by farms and vineyards, this is where it all comes together, and the marketplace is a great focal point for a weekend.

Inside and around the Ferry Building, situated on the Embarcadero at the foot of Market Street, there are culinary experiences at different levels of commitment. One option is to graze. Smear clabbered cottage cheese from Cowgirl Creamery on an organic loaf from The Acme Bread Company. Bite into a juicy peach from Frog Hollow Farm. Slurp down some bivalves grown just up the coast at Hog Island Oyster Co. Spoon into the peach-habanero sorbet at Ciao Bella Gelato.

Or work up an appetite by merely touching and sniffing the produce from dozens of vendors at the year-round farmers' market that's open four days a week, then satisfy it with spicy Japanese eggplant with green onions and coconut milk at the famous Slanted Door restaurant inside. At MarketBar, the connection is even tighter; chefs take inspiration and use ingredients from the market to design their daily menus, such as the zucchini pickles served with their sandwiches.

But what if you long to combine the oyster mushrooms from Far West Fungi and the preserved lemons and lamb stock from Boulettes Larder into a meal of your own creation? At the Beresford Arms (415-673-2600, beresford.com, from $179), a hotel near Nob Hill, Parlour Suites have full-fledged kitchens, each with a refrigerator and stove, plus dishes, pots and pans, and a microwave. (If you forget your shucker or your poultry shears, there's a Sur La Table store in the Ferry Building, too.)

That way, when you wonder how those black plums might taste in a tart with scented geranium leaves, or how those heirloom tomatoes might spark up a plate of linguini, you can buy all the pieces and put them together. Since the Beresford Arms has a complimentary afternoon tea and wine social, you could even invite some other tourists your meet there for a dinner party. Or maybe not. - Joe Yonan

Hola, Capital

If you're craving Spanish food but can't swing a trip to Barcelona, hop on the shuttle to Washington, D.C., where chef Jose Andres Ramon just might be capturing the Iberian spirit better than any other chef working in America. A disciple of "molecular gastronomist" Ferran Adria of El Bulli, Ramon has a similar laboratory in his Cafe Atlantico (202-393-0812, $85 tasting menu), turning out cotton candy with foie gras and deconstructing even a glass of wine. At his sister restaurant, Jaleo (202-628-7949, from $25 for two), Andres serves traditional paellas that we Yanks, used to mushy, overcooked rice casseroles, wouldn't recognize. Stay in the Hotel Monaco (877-202-5411, hotelmonaco.com, from $169), in the stunning all-marble former Tariff Building. - Joe Yonan

The Dining Car

You know those wide seats on Amtrak? Think of them as chariots designed to bring you home from a weekend of extravagant dining in Portland, Maine, a small city that's shining brightly on the national culinary map. Stop at the Portland Public Market (portlandmarket.com) to get into the mood and maybe find a snack of regional produce, cheeses, and wines. Then plan your meals around the city's most notable restaurants. At Fore Street (207-775-2717, from $125 for two), the specialty is apple-wood grilling and roasting. Cinque Terre (207-347-6154, from $110 for two) is a den of northern Italian dining, set off a cobblestone alley. Hugo's (207-774-8538, from $140 for two) features a tasting menu from a chef-owner who's an alum of the famous French Laundry in Yountville, California. Amtrak (800-872-7245, amtrak.com, $42 round trip) runs four Downeaster trains daily between North Station in Boston and Portland. - Wayne Curtis

At the Queens Table

Sure, you can still get a good Italian or Greek meal in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. There are also great Thai, Mexican, and Egyptian places. But with chefs and diners being priced out of Manhattan, Astoria has flashes of downtown tastes, too. At 718 (718-204-5553, 718restaurant.com, from $90 for two), contemporary French cuisine takes on Latin and Spanish influences. Then there's Butcher Bros. Steakhouse (718-267-2771, from $120), where the dry-aged porterhouses rival those at the famous Peter Luger in Brooklyn. You can stay in Manhattan, but if you're pressed for time, make it a one-borough weekend by flying into LaGuardia Airport and take the $4 taxi ride to the nearby Marriott Hotel (800-228-9290, marriott.com, from $149). - Joe Yonan

Sweetness and Light

When spring's cold nights and warm days set the maple taps plinking, the townsfolk of Whitingham, Vermont, celebrate with their annual Maple Fest, scheduled for March 25 and 26, 2006 (whitingham-maplefest.us). All eight of the area's sugaring operations welcome visitors, so make some time between the pancake breakfast and the ham-and-bean supper (with sugared snow for dessert) for a drive in the country. You might even catch a team of draft horses hauling sap back from the woods. Kick back at the B & B Shearer Hill Farm (800-437-3104, www.shearerhillfarm.com, from $105), where Bill and Patti Pusey hang more than 500 buckets each spring and encourage guests to help make syrup. - Patricia Harris and David Lyon

Wellfleet on the Half Shell

Start practicing now if you expect to be a contender at the Wellfleet Oyster Festival's annual shucking contest. Last year's winner opened two dozen bivalves in 1 minute, 36 seconds (no word on how long it took to eat them). The October 14 to 16 celebration also features foot and kayak races and outdoor concerts, but eating oysters - raw, fried, broiled, steamed, baked, stewed - is still the leading activity. Rest between meals at the Wellfleet Motel and Lodge (800-852-2900, wellfleetmotel.com; from $70). Festival admission is free; contest fees and schedule are online at wellfleetoysterfest.org. - Patricia Harris and David Lyon

Unless otherwise noted, room rates listed are for two people staying one night in a hotel's least expensive room with a private bath. Some inns require two-night stays on weekends. All prices are in US dollars.