Today I went to Jackson Heights/Elmhurst, hoping to pick up a couple of books at Barco de Papel. It was closed when I got there, so I wandered a bit, killing time. Lunch, perhaps? There was no shortage of options, with Colombian and Ecuadorian bakeries duking it out on every block, taquerias and cantinas aplenty, and sidewalk vendors squeezing oranges and frying empanadas. Somehow, though I got it into my head that I wanted Mexican mariscos, as they’re scarce in my part of Brooklyn.

It turned out they were scarce in that part of Queens this afternoon, too. Esquina del Camaron Mexicano, right next door to the bookstore? Temporarily closed for renovations. Mariscos El Submarino? Also undergoing renovations, and the guy working outside was vague on whether they’d open for lunch a bit late, a lot late, or not at all.

Determined to salvage something from my trip on the 7 train, I stopped at the juice stand attached to a Colombian bakery – “La Gata Golosa” – for the most ridiculous thing I could think of, which was a raspado. (That’s not quite true – a cholado would have been even more ridiculous, being essentially a raspado with the addition of chopped fresh fruit and a literal cherry on top, but I know my limits.)