where to dine? an east coast food pilgrimage

i try to make it back to the east coast a few times a year - to see family, old friends but also of course, to eat.  while california has the east coast beat in the produce department, there are meals i miss dearly that only the east coast can offer me.  my  most lasting food memory will always be the hot-humid summers in maryland where my parents would bring home a bushel of blue crabs fished from the chesapeake, we'd cover our dining table in old copies of the washington post, roll up our sleeves and go to town with the old bay.  and then there were our many trips up to new york city, where all i experienced were the restaurants of chinatown (yes, i have visited many a cities with my family never doing one touristy thing except for visiting the city's chinatown). 

so, i will make my pilgrimage back east at the end of july and middle of august, going through maryland/washington, d.c., new york city and boston to recapture some of these food memories of my childhood.  my dad will indulge me with a bushel of blue crabs when i get home.  i'm sure i'll make it to many hole-in-the-wall dives in chinatown serving up steaming bowls of jook and noodles.  but i know there is so much undiscovered eating out there and i'm asking you all to help me come up with a list of new places to try out during my 15 days on the east coast.  your favorite fine-dining establishment in new york?  or best italian restaurant in boston's north end?  or the latest up-and-coming restaurant of d.c.'s budding food scene?   i'll put it on my list and let you know how it goes.