Italy doesn’t feel like it’s across the pond at Buckies Biscotti in Dennisport. Their top notch espresso, authentic Italian cookies, biscotti, and cannoli — plus panini sandwiches — make Buckies a winner year-round. Baker (and owner) Alyson Bucchiere scores on so many levels. Hang out with wifi or grab a cuppa joe and a box of biscotti for the road.

What’s Provincetown’s morning hub? Find out at Connie’s Bakery in the Aquarium Mall. Here, everything is made from scratch. Try Shane’s delectable cakes, beautiful pastries and pies, the famous Richie Rolls, or his unbeatable challah and focaccia. The magical mixture of flour, butter, and sugar (not to mention more exotic ingredients) never tasted so good. Also try the sandwiches made...

Don’t fear the line at Four Seas Ice Cream in Centerville (a village of Barnstable): They’ve been at this for over 75 years and know how to move it along quickly — and yes, the ice cream is that good. Choose from 24 flavors, such as Penuche Pecan, Pink Peppermint Stick, Peach (served at Caroline Kennedy’s wedding), and Chip Chocolate,...

On the Rail Trail in Orleans (with a convenient window for ice cream), Hot Chocolate Sparrow is on my short list of never-miss-driving-by-without-stopping-in-for-something-anything! Proprietor Marje Sparrow sends her staff to “espresso lab” to make sure they know the hows and whys of making a consistent cup. Without a doubt, they make the best cappuccino, lattes, and hot chocolate between Beantown and...

The Ice Cream Smuggler in Dennis makes great mocha chip and black raspberry ice cream — and frozen yogurt, ice cream cakes and fudge-bottom pies, too.

Cindy and Blake Stearns’s pies at Marion’s Pie Shop are a delicious alternative in Chatham. (Marion’s gone, but the recipes are better than ever!) You can’t go wrong with the savory potpies (chock-full of chicken), seafood pies, beefsteak pies, sweet fruit pies (the bumbleberry knocks my socks off), or any of the breakfast baked goods. This humble but humming little...

With the opening of PB Boulangerie Bistro in Wellfleet in 2010, you would have been forgiven assuming they were selling drugs or something — it was that popular from the get-go. In fact, as the season progressed, a policeman had to start directing traffic off Route 6 because of traffic flow issues. What the bistro does offer is outstanding and...

Pie in the Sky is a funky (in a good way) institution in Woods Hole with strong coffee (they roast it themselves), good handmade pastries, hearty sandwiches, and homemade soups. There are a few tables inside and garden/streetside. In summer, frequent patio entertainment packs a crowd that extends up the hillside. It’s inevitably my first and last stop in Woods...

Everyone comes to Spiritus  in Provincetown at least once during their time here, and some come every day! If one of the front benches is empty, hang out and do some serious people-watching. This is the place to see and be seen after midnight (for gay guys anyway). Grab a slice of great thin-crust pizza, pop a pie, slurp an ice...

You can’t miss the big red building for Sweet Escapes and Savory Pizza Grill in Truro. And I bet you’ll stop more than once. From fabu ice cream choices like Lavender Fig and Wicked Mud Flats (a chocolatey concoction) to stone-fired pizzas, grilled burgers, chicken breast sandwiches, and hand-cut fries (with vinegar), this big place has the bases covered. Dine...

You simply can’t go wrong at Twin Acres Ice Cream with a huge menu and hordes of happy customers. The servings are gigundo, you can eat at picnic tables in the oak grove or on the lush lawn, and the really hungry can even get something from the grill menu at lunchtime. Let the summer begin, in Sandwich. Or give...