Golden hues

The sad part about living in a city during autumn is the lack of fall foliage. I remember going to Bear Mountain with my family for quite a few years in a row when I was much younger to catch the best of the fall colors. Everything feels crisp and wonderful. I'll do what I can here with Central Park I suppose! Come to think of it, I should have made another trip to the Cloisters/Fort Tryon. Silly me.

Seeing red (chili, that is)

Yes, you're getting two posts in one night! I had heard much about Sripraphai (see-PRA-pie, if you will), an authentic Thai restaurant in Woodside, Queens, and tonight I mustered up some coworkers to join me in the trek out of Manhattan. Now, I don't venture off this island very much at all, so there must be something extraordinary to lure me away.

After a pretty quick ride on the 7, we arrived at the restaurant thanks to the help of our Sripraphai veteran (hi, Lauren!). The menu is ridiculously extensive, and I just do not deal very well when given too many choices. Eventually, we ordered vegetable curry puffs, fried pork and crabmeat rolls, a duck salad, and fried vegetable dumplings to start. I loved the curry puffs, especially the extra crispy parts of pastry puff. All the food was brought out really quickly, and soon our table was populated with my roasted duck in curry sauce, vegetable drunken noodles, some sea trout curry dish, and crispy pork belly. I had read that the "spicy" level of spicy makes you want to cry and die a bit, so I went with the "medium," which by many other standards would be considered "very spicy." I mean, just look at all this red! (I note that the spice didn't overwhelm the actual nicely balanced flavors of the dish.)

No doubt, I would make the pilgrimage out here again.

Sripraphai | 64-13 39th Avenue, Woodside, NY

"Be nice or go home"

A few weekends ago, I wandered to the Ninth Street Espresso in Alphabet City as it had been on my list for quite some time. The inside wasn't nearly as photogenic as I had hoped, so I creeped on this flat-capped fellow and on this group sitting outside instead. As for the cappuccino, it's hard/impossible to seriously distinguish between all these fantastic and well-made espresso drinks at the growing list of fine cafes I've now been to, especially if I'm not tasting them side by side. I mean, what can I really tell you about it? It's certainly as good as all the others, but I'm not sure when or if I'll be able say one cappuccino is better than the next, not at this level of cafe anyway.

Oh yes, and the house rules are posted as such:

-No cell phones at the counter.
-No pets allowed in the shop.
-Restroom for customers only.
-Please order from the menu.
-Wifi is free, the seat is not.
-One seat per customer.
-Cash Only.
-Be nice or go home.

Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free do-- (oops I can't make out what it says here, but I'm assuming "dog"? Hehehe.)

Ninth Street Espresso | 700 E 9th Street (Multiple locations)