I was born in Australia though grew up with a strong sense of my Russian heritage. Ever since we were born, mum and dad brought us up to embrace our Russianness: Russian School on Saturdays for us kids (mum was a teacher there too), homemade Russian cuisine, summer vacations on Russian cruise liners, first trip to Russia on my 21^st birthday, the annual Easter midnight mass at the Russian Orthodox Church that our family attends. The very same church that Ali and I were married in on May 1 2011.

Our wedding day, May 1 2011. Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Diocesan Cathedral, Strathfield, Sydney.

Now that I live in New York, I am frequently nostalgic for home and Russian-anything. Luckily, I live in Brooklyn and am close enough to Brighton Beach to get my regular Russian-culture-dosage-requirement. Brighton Beach is very much a Russian community: Russian is the predominant language spoken here, and many of the stores are fronted with Cyrillic signage. Beauty and nail salons abound, bookstores carry plenty of Russian works and DVDs, and even designer brands such as Gucci (or was that Guci?) are on sale in the boutiques. In the cooler months, those sporting leisure suits are far and few between, though I did spot someone in a lime green velour ensemble today. Other than that, everyone was rugged up in classic jackets and boots, shopping and socialising at the markets.

Russian CD anyone?

Tagged, “Little Russia By the Sea” or referred to as “Little Odessa” after its many Ukrainian immigrants, the neighbourhood was developed in 1868 though only became known as Brighton Beach after a naming-contest held in 1878. The chosen name was based on the British seaside resort – Brighton. A selective flow of the Russian Jewish population immigrated to the area during the 1980’s though it was after 1991 that the area received an influx of residents from the former Soviet Union. Brighton Beach holds the largest Russian population in the US.

The Q line goes all the way to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn

Brighton Beach Avenue is the main street that runs through the neighbourhood and is the best place to stock up on Russian food staples. Piroshki (savoury deep fried doughnuts with meat, potato or cabbage filling) and cheese danishes are sold from sidewalk stands. The supermarkets sell a variety of Russian packaged goods, breads, meats, cheeses, and the in-store takeaway food buffets offer up an array of prepared dishes that are purchased by the pound. Beet salad, potato salad, fish cutlets, pork chops, herring, caviar, pickled cabbage, meat filled blinchiki (that’s crepes, in English). A great recipe for them can be found here: http://www.azcookbook.com/meat-stuffed-blinchiki-crepes/

Salad buffet at The Brighton Beach Bazaar

Oh, and about the beach…Coney Island Beach runs parallel to Brighton Beach Avenue. A quick walk down one of the side streets will lead you to a sweeping vista of the ocean. Many benches line the boardwalk and in summer, this space is jammed with people. Though on this fall day there were a few of us simply enjoying the view of the sunset or sitting in the boardwalk’s cafes, shooting the Atlantic breeze.

Coney Island Boardwalk Cafe

I noticed that the Millennium Theatre on Brighton Beach Avenue is going to be hosting a Russian Holiday Circus & Carnival in the coming weeks. I may need to come back to catch it.

Sunset on the boardwalk

SLIDESHOW with more images of Brighton Beach (there are quite a few and you many have to scroll through those already included above):

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