Try it: Sirki Glazirovannii

Сырки глазированные (aka Glazed Cream Cheese) sounds amazing right?! These tasty little treats are traditional desserts for kids, but we figured we all have a little kid in us especially when it comes to unchartered food territory. Sirki have a chocolate "glaze" that wraps around a thick layer of creamy cheese, and usually there is some sort of fruit filling tucked away in the middle. There are numerous different brands and some boast as many as 24 flavors! You can find these en masse at Russian bazas, such as Net Cost Market, where this picture was taken (located on East 16th Street between Avenue U and V). Net Cost probably has the best selection of Sirki that we have seen and you can check out a ton of other tasty Russian foods while you are shopping. Our personal favorite is anything peach, but we also recommend the double chocolate flavor. Keep these in the freezer to maintain their freshness and make sure to eat them right after you pull it out...that is for optimum flavor (and so it won't get smashed up). The price ranges from $1-2 per bar depending on the brand, but for that cheap you can afford to try more than a few.

Build it: The Neighbors Strike Back

A few weeks back the Little Rus' team wrote a piece on the tremendous amount of new construction occurring in the area of Brighton Beach. Well, apparently we were not the only ones who noticed. Hot off the press from YourNabe.com is an article about the recent development boom in the area and the plethora of underlying issues. For the most part these new condo buildings are replacing single story homes with mid-rise towers from 7-12 stories high. As one can easily see from the "skyline" in Brighton this is a drastic change. The excerpt below displays the intensity of both sides of the debate:

"The verbal smackdown occurred between some residents who said the plan didn’t do enough to curb overdevelopment and others who feared their property values would decrease and said there should be no downzoning at all.

The battle took a heated turn when Brighton 8th Street resident Shimon Rinkovsky said the entire bungalow community should be destroyed and new buildings should be erected on the land.

Judd Fischler, a resident of Brighton 3rd Street, had enough and rushed to the front of Coney Island Hospital’s auditorium and demanded to respond to the comments immediately. He was held back by Community Board 13 District Manager Chuck Reichenthal before finally relenting and returning to his seat."

The revitalization taking place certainly has its pros and cons, however a larger concern should be affordability as the residents pointed out in the article. Given the fact that many of the families who reside in Brighton Beach are first generation immigrants and do not have very high incomes, the new construction could keep them from being able to afford to buy a home in this area.

The bottom line is, the community board has an opportunity to curb over-development by imposing some zoning restrictions that may very well save the neighborhood without crippling its re-development. If they fail to do so, the results may be "Williamsburg by the Sea" rather than Little Russia by the Sea. Lest not forget what happened the last time a bunch of Russians organized against the government (for those of you who don't know check your history books for 1917). These developers may have bitten off more than they can chew.

Save it: Cheap(er) Brighton Car Services

Sorry for the long delay in postings, but we have been on a serious mission in Brighton that will be revealed in the next few weeks...and some of us have been slacking off at the beach with this amazing weather! Anyhow, down to business: we recently surveyed our network of fellow Brightonites (I think that may be a completely new word) to find out what car services they use to get to and fro in this neck of the woods. We have found that these car services are far more reliable and cost effective than many of the others in the area. The best part is that these companies will take you almost anywhere in NYC and at a fraction of what you spend at places like Dial 7. We have used these services for traveling into the city, to JFK, or for returning after a long night of debauchery and not wanting to risk falling asleep on the train. The rates to/from Manhattan from deep Brooklyn are about $30-35, while airport rides from Brighton are only about $25.

You don't have live in Brooklyn to take advantage of these cheaper services though. If you call the dispatchers will usually do pickups all over the city (however, we recommend planning ahead if you know when/where you want to be picked up). Essentially, we just wanted to share another way to get out to our hood. Feel free to post any comments or recommendations for other car services if you have experience with them.

Brighton area car services:

• Bensonhurst Car Service Corp
  
• Eastland Limo and Car Service
  
• Empire Car Service
• Seaside Car Service
  

Happy travels and stay tuned.

Try it: Pelmeni

We are back from the holiday weekend and are deeply sorry that we missed the first ever hot dog eating contest "over-time". I can only imagine the feeling of cramming down 59 hot dogs in ten minutes, only to be told that you have to suck down 5 more as fast as possible. But speaking of gorging out, our team found the perfect meal-on-the-fly to break you out of those mac n'cheese blues....PELMENI!! These delicious little dumplings come in frozen packages at nearly any Russian baza (store) out here in the Brighton area. As can be seen by the photo, the flavors are almost limitless! You can choose from chicken and onions to cabbage with potato and cheese, although our favorite is the kind with veal made by the Russian Style Ravioli Co. No matter which you choose they are uber easy to prepare (about 5 minutes in boiling water) and are delicious with a little bit of sour cream and smudge of Russian-style hot mustard made by Zakuson (be careful it kicks more than wasabi). We recommend shopping for them at either Net Cost Market (see the site for location) or at Золотой Ключик (Golden Key Market @ 1067 Brighton Ave) as they have the largest selection to choose from and because you can check out all the other cool Russian foods while you are there.

Oh, and we saved the best for last, pelmeni come frozen so you can keep them stashed in your freezer for the late night munchies when you stumble home from the bar.

Check it Out: Coney Island

With the forecast looking grim for the upcoming holiday weekend (that is if you are sticking around the city), we suggest heading out to Coney Island to watch two really skinny dudes chow countless hotdogs as fast as possible! That's right, the world famous Nathan's Hotdog eating contest goes down on Coney Island every Fourth of July. This year it looks like some serious rivalry between the reigning champ Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and the Japanese sensation Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (yes, these guys have their own websites -- but who doesn't these days?). Apparently, "Tsunami" holds the world record for hotdog eating as he downed 66 dogs in 12 minutes. However, he was defeated by "Jaws" last year at the Nathan's event. If that doesn't get you all fired up, then perhaps you can take your chances with the weather at Brighton Beach.

If the weather turns for the worse, you can always check out the New York Aquarium, and it just so happens that Fridays after 3pm are the "pay what you wish" day. They don't close until 6pm so that gives you plenty of time to check out the sea anemones and the sharks.














Just an FYI (see the last post on the re-zoning of Coney Island), this very well could be the last year to catch a glimpse of the historic amusement park before it is transformed into a tourist attraction so it may be worth the trip if you are around the city. Anyhow, enjoy the Fourth and just remember not to hold the bottle rockets in your hand.