V Is for Veselka

Most of my A to Z blog friends are done, but I've gotten behind and it's a dash to the finish tomorrow. Get ready for a flurry of blog posts from Manhattan and Brooklyn as we come to Z in our search for the best coffee in New York City. 

V brings us back to the East Village -- also the site of City of Saints -- for a visit to the Ukrainian restaurant, Veselka. The East Village has had a fascinating history and has been home to Little Germany, Yiddish Theatre and the Beat movement. It also experienced significant Ukrainian immigration after World War II. Veselka, founded in 1954, is one of the last of the many Ukrainian restaurants that were found in this neighborhood. 

Truth in blogging, I didn't come here for the coffee. It is a great place for breakfast -- I need to come back later in the day and try some of the other Ukrainian specialties -- and the coffee is fine, but it's not a coffee site. I had an enjoyable breakfast and had a good time exploring the streets in the area -- lots of fun new stores.

 

I'm a pierogi fan and have been thinking about what I would enter in this contest, but haven't come up with anything yet. What would you put together if you designed your own pierogi?

On my way to Veselka I passed St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery,  the oldest site of continuous religious practice in New York City. It goes back to 1660, when Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam purchased land for a farm and built a family chapel here. Throughout the centuries the church has been at the center of writing and theater in the neighborhood. There is still artistic activity in the East Village, but there is a lot of it has gone to other neighborhoods. One of them is Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Through no special planning that is our next stop on the coffee express.

So much coffee and so little time! Let's keep sipping.