Let’s kick off this new year with some food recommendations around New York!  Today we’re specifically writing about Brooklyn, and some cool spots there where you can grab a quick bite.  The places featured here are the result of us taking some weekend journeys, wandering around the borough to get a wide variety of food.  So check out our ramblings – but be warned that there is one image of meat here.

First up, some slice joints.  We discovered a few fairly new pizza places in three different Brooklyn neighborhoods, starting with Fini Pizza in Williamsburg.  Their menu is pretty simple, so we tried a few different slices:  one plain cheese (on the left); one tomato, with just a sprinkling of Parmesan on top (in the middle); and one with mozzarella, shallots, and long hot peppers (on the right).

We also headed to Baby Luc’s in Carroll Gardens, which is a spinoff of the nearby and very popular Lucali.  While Lucali’s serves whole pizzas in a table service restaurant, Baby Luc’s specializes in slices – particularly grandma slices – in a more casual setting.  So we tried a margherita slice and a ricotta and broccoli rabe slice …

… plus Cyril had a pepperoni slice.

One more pizza place we went to check out was Brooklyn D.O.P. in Park Slope, which started out as two guys cooking and selling pizza out of their apartment but has now turned into a storefront location.  Here’s what we got there:  one cheese grandma slice, one margherita slice …

… and one spicy slice with mushrooms, shallots and red pepper flakes.

But if you’re looking for an easy meal that’s not pizza, we also decided one Sunday to head down to Brighton Beach, which is well-known for having a huge population of Russian immigrants as well as other people coming from countries in the former Soviet Union.  We first headed to Varenichnaya, which serves up quick plates of Russian food.  We decided to split this order of vareniki, which are Russia’s version of stuffed and sautéed dumplings.  We got a mushroom and potato version topped with fried onions, but you can also have plain potato, cabbage, cherry or farmer’s cheese as vegetarian fillings.

And just around the corner from Varenichnaya is Little Georgia, a tiny storefront serving up Georgian baked goods.  There’s no space to eat there so you have to get everything to go – we settled on one imeruli khachapuri, which is a flaky, folded pastry filled with cheese …

… and one lobiani – this round bread stuffed with mashed kidney beans.

All in all, we had a pretty good adventure tracking down and trying all these foods.  Pizza is something many people associate with Brooklyn, and while it can be hard to find some truly standout places in a sea of options, we think the three new spots we tried were a good sampling of some tasty and creative slices.  Then, in heading down to Brighton Beach, we got to experience some really interesting and authentic food from a part of the world whose cuisine we don’t often get a chance to sample.  If you’re up for a trip (or two) around Brooklyn getting a taste of some diverse and interesting foods, these are some great spots to check out.