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The time has come to start picking out summer destinations. By way of methodologies you could do worse than throwing darts at the oyster list from Cull & Pistol, the new sit-down spinoff from The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market. How about Mirichimi Bay, New Brunswick, home of the Beau Soleil oyster? Or Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island, known for its cottages, piping plovers, and the crisp finish of Indian Creek bivalves? Maybe you’d prefer the west coast, where the rugged shores of Cortes Island, British Columbia, abet rugged blue shellfish? If all else fails, there’s always Chelsea.

It's hard to imagine--but somehow Philippe Starck still refuses to just leave well enough alone. To be sure, his newest restaurant project (in partnership with Paridis du Fruit founder Claude Louzon), Miss Kō, is plonked along Paris' most haute boulevard, the Avenue George V--yet it appears as if lifted from some surreal X-Box anime game. Or as Monsieur Starck himself describes it, “Miss Kō is a fantasy, an exquisite corpse, where you walk into a faraway court of miracles on a street straight out of Blade Runner, steeped in limitless creative madness." Totally!

In honor of the national holiday that is National Burger Month, I'm devoting Fridays to the world's love for the juicy, dripping beast that is The Burger. First honored were the weirdest burgers, then the smallest burgers, and today, I'm honoring NYC's BIGGEST burgers. Oh yes. Size matters. Take a look at these big boys:

Of America's culinary contributions – the apple pie, the juicy cheeseburger, the mac & cheese – perhaps its finest is The Chocolate-Chip Cookie. At its best, its gooey in the middle, warm with crisp edges, and a minefield of rich chocolate-chip chunks. And at its worst, it's simply dough and chocolate – and my, is that wonderful. But today is National Chocolate-Chip Cookie Day, when these doughy, little saucer-shaped desserts are celebrated for the joy they bring to us and the world. Here's where to find NYC's Five Best Chocolate-Chip Cookies.

In honor of the national holiday that is National Burger Month, I'm devoting Fridays to the world's love for the juicy, dripping beast that is The Burger. Today, I'm honoring NYC's smallest burgers. While some say size matters, these sliders pack enough explosion of flavor, condiments, and lettuce & onion to convince even the most stubborn of burger purists. Take a look:

Ah, Cannes. The films, the celebrities, the red carpets, the ... incredible effort and expense of getting there. If you really add up the numbers, it might not be worth the fuel needed to power your superyacht into the harbor. And is Cannes the only place in the world where you can sip rosé and dine on artichoke tartes in the company of tipsy Eurpeans? It is not. You can do just that in the city of New York's Meatpacking District, because Brasserie Beaumarchais is serving a Cannes-themed dinner series for the duration of the festival across the pond (Wednesday, May 15 - Thursday, May 23) for the completely reasonable price of $65. That's dollars, not euros. 

Charlemagne, a porn-shop-turned-French-brasserie in the West Village, does a suckling pig dish that reminds me of an old tale. My cousin Robert, who went “vegetarian” a few years ago at his girlfriend’s behest, treated himself the other week to a suckling pig at the Breslin when his lady left town. Out it came in all its porcine glory, with the bowls of sauces and the apple in its mouth. A few bites in, who showed up but his girlfriend’s roommate, who’d eat her tote bag to avoid meat. “Robert!” she gasped, “what in the world?” Robert dropped his silverware. “Can you believe this?” he replied. “I order an apple and look how they serve it!”

Between gelato carts and waiter statuettes jutting out into the sidewalks, Little Italy is hardly subtle when it comes to self-promotion. But 180 Neapolitan Eatery, a new pizzeria on Hester Street, lacks a proper front door, let alone a sign. A scuzzy glass door leads to a generic elevator, and on the second floor, a little dining room stares down at pizzaiolo Salvatore Olivella’s thousand-degree wood-burning oven. There are some flowers in the windows. Otherwise, it’s all about the pizza.