Few men live through the entire life of a celebrated establishment. But when the Ritz-Carlton in New York closes, that will be my status.

Featuring Keen's English Chophouse, Gage and Tollner, Café St. Denis, Viceroy, Versailles.

Featuring downtown Manhattan in the good old summertime.

Rain or shine, spring's in the bones. Undeniable evidence at Ye Olde Herb Shoppe, 46 Dey Street, New York. Here are spring tonics for sale, the old-fashioned kinds made of bark, seed, and berry to turn into teas to quicken the blood....

Featuring Robert's, Longchamps, and Chalet.

Featuring the Brussels, Café Tokay, and the Rajah.

Hit the jack pot of all things good—the Jack Pot Beans, a product of Hitching Post Foods, Inc., Savannah, Georgia. These beans are the big, mealy limas, cooked Southern style with brown sugar.

The season's award for the most brilliantly executed gustatory barn-raising goes high, wide, and handsomely to the Pierre Hotel's chef des cuisines, Manuel Orta.