Cafe Glechik goes out of its way to distinguish itself from the other Russian joints in Brighton Beach. There's no Casio, no attempt to lure you into a big splurge featuring bad caviar, free-flowing vodka, and endless courses of desiccated smoked fish and imitation French cuisine. The menu offers simple, freshly prepared peasant fare from all corners of the former Soviet Union, with a penchant for Ukrainian and Central Asian dishes. Featuring an array of ceramic pots perched atop a room-dividing wooden fence, the decor is self- consciously rustic, and the walls are dotted with rural landscapes that might have been painted in a half-hour on Channel 13 by Bob Ross. My favorite shows a mill by a churning stream, crazily framed... More >>>