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i'm going to the beach today! with my partner! i'm so excited. we're going to splash around in the water and relax on the sand, and probably have some khachapuri since the beach is near a big Eastern European neighborhood. i think the kind we always get is either imeruli khachapuri or ossetian khachapuri, which means it looks a little more like a pizza than the classic cheese boat, but it's really delicious. we're going to spend the whole day around Brighton Beach and Coney Island, so maybe we'll get corn dogs or clam strips or something at Paul's Daughter later, and stay for the fireworks over the ocean. her favorite place is the beach, but i'm less of a beach boy historically--sand is a sensory problem for me, and i didn't go swimming for a really long time because of my chest dysphoria, but post top surgery my entire life has changed. i can finally go to the beach with her.

my partner spent a few years living in Eastern Europe (in Serbia and Hungary--her family is Hungarian), and it's always really sweet to see how excited she gets about the places in New York that remind her of her grandparents or her time in Europe. here are some recs for Eastern European/North Asian places for food in New York:

• Ukranian East Village Restaurant
  this restaurant is right next to Veselka, so i feel like it gets overlooked constantly. it's homey and the food is excellent, and even though my partner's grandparents aren't from Ukraine, when we went to Ukranian East Village Restaurant together, she said that her grandmother used to make a lot of the dishes on the menu. the food is really delicious with generous portions, and the prices are reasonable. i love Veselka (it's a New York institution, after all), but if you go there a lot, you should definitely branch out and add this restuarant to the rotation.
• Little Georgia
  this is where we get khachapuri in Brighton Beach. it's a small shop and bakery that also sells some Georgian goods. it's all counter service with no space to sit, but that's okay because the correct thing to do is take your khachapuri to go for a beach picnic.
• Hanimeli Bakery
  also in Brighton Beach, Hanimeli is a really excellent Turkish bakery with cozy decor. it's a great place to share a pastry and have some Turkish coffee, and on the same block there's usually a woman who sets up shop and sells piroshky (handpies that are staples of both Ukranian and Russian cuisines) for a few dollars if you're looking for something savory before or after.
• Padishah Restaurant
  there's a lot of incredible food of the Q on Avenue U. the first thing you'll see after exiting the train is a ten block stretch lined with Chinese bakeries, and if you keep going, you'll find yourself surrounded by Uzbek restaurants. my partner and i walked in to Padishah after deciding we wanted to try Uzbek food, taking the train to Sheepshead Bay, and scoping out which restaurants we thought looked best. the interior is all mismatched decour and a big television playing live recordings of Uzbek music, and everything we tried was so perfectly cooked and seasoned, including some of the best lamb and beef i've ever had. afterwards, we stopped by one of the Chinese bakeries and picked up some buns and milk bread, which we had later while getting cozy and watching a movie. it was one of my favorite dates we've been on, and i'd go back to the restaurant in a heartbeat.
• Polka Dot
  you can't talk Eastern European food in New York without talking about Polish food in Greenpoint. i also really like Pierozek (get the pierogi tatarskie or the red borscht with uszka if you go), but Polka Dot is a little smaller, more intimate, and more basic in a way that feels like someone's grandma made the food. if Greenpoint is a little too far for you, i would also recommened checking out Hetman, Zabka, or any of the Polish delis in Ridgewood.
• Rizkq
  this shop doesn't have an internet presence and its Yelp page has the wrong address, but if you click the link above, you'll see a stock photo i found on Alamy of the shop--it's on Church Ave in Prospect Park South, and it's a Halal meat market and gorcery store selling goods from Eastern Europe. my partner and i go sometimes to pick up grocery items she bought regularly when she lived in the Balkans, and to get Serbian burek, a phyllo dough pastery stuffed with beef or cheese. they also have Serbian yogurt, which they make fresh there and sell in to go cups for you to drink. my partner got so excited when she saw it since she hadn't had yogurt like that (perfectly sour and refreshing) in years.