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This weekend I decided to visit one of the most notable local markets, Marino’s Fish Market. It has been recommended to me many times, but I never found the time to visit due to a crazy, over-packed schedule that was my former freelancing life. Now that things have calmed down, I had the opportunity to make the trip over to 30th Ave.

We got there around 11am and found a beautiful display of fish! I was particularly happy to see wild salmon there, and at a price that was less than I was used to paying when I was in the habit of buying fish. We got a little over a pound, as well as some frozen fish cakes, which look intriguing. I understand they’ve been getting these fish cakes from the same people for over 50 years. Can’t wait to try them.

After Marino’s we wandered over to Frank’s Bakery, just up the street. I learned that this is the time of year for St. Joseph pastries, one of which is a zeppole, a delicious sweet dough filled with thick, sweet pastry cream and topped with sour cherry. It was amazing and so delicious. There are many beautiful pastries at this bakery. They’ve been around for over 30 years, too.

Later in the day, I got a haircut - about 4-5 inches chopped off! On my way home, I decided to stop in at the new Parrot market on Ditmars.

It used to be an Italian-Greek grocery, and in its new form it still is, except Balkan foods have been added. Fine by me! It’s very bright and clean and has a lot of delicious looking items. I bought some delicious zacusca, hummus, olives (two: za’atar covered and jalepeño stuffed), and a tasty Milka bar that I hadn’t had before (milk chocolate with corn flakes and peanuts). Turns out the people that are running the place now are good friends of the former owners. Nice.

Dolce Italia was also on my radar, and I picked up a cup of coffee (meh, but I have super high standards for my coffee), and a couple of mini cannolis (YUM). They make an interesting and unusual cannoli filled with hazelnut ricotta cream. Top Tomato had the lemons and dill I needed for dinner.

Below is the salmon I prepared, all dressed up before going in the oven:

No picture of it cooked - we ate it too quickly! It was delicious.

It was great to shop locally and visit the small independent stores. I plan to do this more often than shopping primarily at the Key Food. My neighborhood is delicious!

Today was one of those days that reminds me why I love living in Astoria.

We left the apartment around 10 a.m. this morning to run/walk in Astoria Park, and when we got there, we spotted a red-tailed hawk sitting up in a tree! There were a few other people (and one dog) staring up at it, amazed that something so fantastic was right there in front of us. A few minutes after we walked away, I felt the wind rush past my right shoulder and saw the hawk pass within a couple of feet from me! Very exciting. We thought it might be going after breakfast in the shape of a squirrel running around nearby. The red tailed hawk is a beautiful bird and I’m glad I got a chance to see one, virtually in my own backyard.

Later in the afternoon we headed to a new cafe nearby, Soleil. I heard they had free wifi (a new perk since opening), and I was aware they had decent coffee, and nice atmosphere from a previous visit. We bundled up, brought our laptops and enjoyed a relaxing couple of hours getting a bit of work done. It’s a really nice space, and the wifi is indeed free. My latte was good but the fresh juice was even better. I’m glad this place is nearby.

Afterwards, we made a spur-of-the-moment visit to La Flor de Puebla, just up the street for tacos. We ordered a spicy pork and a chicken taco, and let me tell you - these tacos are some of the finest I’ve eaten in Astoria. Totally delicious and super flavorful. I’ll be back.

Thanks to naturepicsonline.com for the red-tailed hawk picture.