The days when restaurant snobs sniffed that they had to go to New York to get a decent meal are long gone. Especially in warm weather, when excellent local produce appears on menus in every price range, the Boston area holds its own with any other market in the country. Celebrity chefs and rising stars spice up a dynamic restaurant scene, and traditional favorites occupy an important niche. The huge student population seeks out value, which it often finds at ethnic restaurants.

Seafood is a specialty in Boston, and you'll find it on the menu at almost every restaurant -- trendy or classic, expensive or cheap, American (whatever that is) or ethnic. Some pointers: Scrod or schrod is a generic term for fresh white-fleshed fish, usually served in filets. Local shellfish includes Ipswich and Essex clams, Atlantic lobsters, Wellfleet oysters, scallops, mussels, and shrimp.

Lobster was once so abundant that the Indians showed the Pilgrims how to use the ugly crustaceans as fertilizer, and prisoners rioted when it turned up on the menu too often. Order lobster boiled or steamed and you'll get a plastic bib, a nutcracker (for the claws and tail), a pick (for the legs), and drawn butter (for dipping). Restaurants price lobsters by the pound; the ones in this guide typically charge at least $15 to $20 for a "chicken" (1- to 1 1/4-lb.) lobster, and more for the bigger specimens. If you want someone else to do the work, lobster is available in a "pie" (casserole), in a "roll" (sandwich), stuffed and baked or broiled, in or over pasta, in salad, and in bisque.

Well-made New England clam chowder is a white soup studded with fresh clams and thickened with cream. Recipes vary, but they never, ever include tomatoes. (Tomatoes go in Manhattan clam chowder.) If you want clams but not soup, many places serve steamers, or soft-shell clams cooked in the shell, as an appetizer or main dish. More common are hard-shell clams -- littlenecks (small) or cherrystones (medium-size) -- served raw, like oysters.

Note: The axiom that you should order oysters only in months with an "R" in them originates in biology. Summer is breeding season, when the energy that usually goes into bulking up (and making lots of juicy meat) gets diverted to reproduction. To experience the best the oyster has to offer, wait till the weather turns colder.

Traditional Boston baked beans, which date from colonial days, when cooking on the Sabbath was forbidden, earned Boston the nickname "Beantown." House-made baked beans can be hard to find (Durgin-Park does an excellent rendition), but when you do, you'll probably also find good cornbread and brown bread -- more like a steamed pudding, of whole wheat and rye flour, cornmeal, molasses, buttermilk, and, usually, raisins.

Boston cream pie is golden layer cake sandwiched around custard and topped with chocolate glaze -- no cream, no pie.

Boston Tea Party, Part 2 -- In Boston, the only city that has a tea party named after it, the tradition of afternoon tea at a posh hotel is alive and well. The best afternoon tea in town is at the Bristol Lounge in the Four Seasons Hotel, 200 Boylston St. (tel. 617/351-2037). The gorgeous room, lovely view, and courtly ritual elevate scones, pastries, tea sandwiches, and nut bread from delicious to unforgettable. The Bristol serves tea ($23, or $30 with a kir royale) every day from 3 to 4:30pm; reservations are essential. The Ritz-Carlton, Boston, 15 Arlington St. (tel. 617/536-5700), serves tea in the celebrated Lounge Wednesday through Sunday at 2:30 and 4pm. Prices range from $16 for the children's tea to $38 for a luxurious spread of pastries and sandwiches with a glass of champagne. You'll need reservations. Less formal but still delicious is the a la carte service at Intrigue (tel. 617/856-7744), in the Boston Harbor Hotel, Rowes Wharf, which serves tea daily.

The Scoop on Ice Cream -- No less an expert than Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's has described Boston as "a great place for ice cream." That goes for Cambridge, too -- residents of both cities famously defy even the most frigid weather to get their fix. I like Cambridge better: Try Christina's, 1255 Cambridge St., Inman Square (tel. 617/492-7021); Herrell's, 15 Dunster St., Harvard Square (tel. 617/497-2179); or Toscanini's, 899 Main St., Central Square (tel. 617/491-5877). Favorite Boston destinations include Ben & Jerry's, 174 Newbury St. (tel. 617/536-5456) and 20 Park Plaza (tel. 617/426-0890); JP Licks, 352 Newbury St. (tel. 617/236-1666); and Steve's, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall Marketplace (tel. 617/367-0569).

Sweet-Tooth Alert -- As a rule, nonfranchise businesses that carve out a niche in Harvard Square do one thing and do it extremely well. Case in point: L.A. Burdick Chocolates, 52 Brattle St., Cambridge (tel. 617/491-4340; T: Red Line to Harvard). The amazing confections include sublime hot chocolate to stay or go.

Go Straight to the Source -- The tiramisu at many North End restaurants comes from Modern Pastry, 257 Hanover St. (tel. 617/523-3783). The surreally good concoction ($3.50 a slice at the shop) makes an excellent picnic dessert in the summer -- head 4 blocks down Richmond Street to eat in Waterfront Park.