I felt a bit like a Pavlovian dog as I sat in my purple auditorium chair, dreaming about the curry being served in the cafe that was oddly located in the basement of the pyschology building. As soon as the class was over, I’d hurry to get in the cafe’s line, which would snake all the way to the math building.

When I got to the front of the line, I had to be ready with my order. No indecision, no special requests, or we’d face the wrath of the Curry Nazi — a big, Caucasian man with graying hair and a red apron. His wife, possibly from Thailand, manned the register. In back, her relative would be dishing out today’s special. My favorite was the chicken curry in coconut sauce, served over rice in a styrofoam tray. It had tender pieces of dark meat chicken, onions, carrots and potatoes that had absorbed the rich, complex, spicy flavors of the yellow coconut sauce.

I don’t remember much from Psych 101 anymore, but the lessons from Thai Cafe are still fresh in my mind. It’s where I learned how to enjoy spicy food in general and Southeast Asian cuisine in particular. It taught me to appreciate the richness of coconut milk, the savoriness of fish sauce, and the piquancy of sriracha. These are lessons that I use on a daily basis now.

I haven’t been back to that Thai cafe in over ten years. According to Yelp (http://www.yelp.com/biz/thai-cafe-stanford?q=thai), it still exists, but things may have gone downhill. Still, I will always remember it with fondness. Thank you Psych Building Thai Cafe.

At that point in my life, there was no counting calories or watching my fat intake — heaven!!