Thought I knew what a great crab cake was. Then I ate Mrs. Faidley's lump meat crab cake. It's the gold standard that all other crab cakes should aspire to and which l doubt any crab cake will reach. Solid lump crab, subtly bound together.

Went for a half dozen oysters too. This time of year they're from Louisiana, but tasted fresh out of the Chesapeake.

My only problem with Faidley's is that they're in Baltimore's Lexington Market. There's a lot of good eating to be had there, but I can't see visiting the market without not passing go and heading directly to Faidley's.