Sometimes a local dish is so good, it can't be replicated in the exact same way. A few examples I've come across so far: the turkey joe (a special NJ sandwich that has nothing to do with hamburger sloppy joes), black-and-white cookies, an Italian from Maine, and Bubby's Michigan sour cherry lattice pie. I love Bubby's Pie Company — the photos on my About page were actually taken in Bubby's basement photobooth after having eaten another slice of their infamous Michigan sour cherry pie (served warm + topped with vanilla ice cream.) It's heavenly good pie. And this just in: Williams-Sonoma was smart enough to recognize that no sour cherry pie could top Bubby's. Impossible. So you can have Bubby's Michigan sour cherry lattice pie now too, even if you're not in walking distance of their New York restaurant. Obviously, this pie would make someone's day — a sweet gift. But I think the mail-order Bubby's Michigan sour cherry pie should be shipped out to former New Yorkers, living elsewhere in the country, who once had access to Bubby's menu of treats and can now only reminisce how good they had it when they could climb in a booth and order a slice of this mood-altering pie.
