A hobo stands at the door, palm extended for a handout. Well, not a real hobo, but a life-size fiberglass one, and he slouches between you and the front door of Cupola Samarkanda II, a Uzbek restaurant under the F tracks on Brooklyn's McDonald Avenue, in what might be Gravesend, or maybe Bensonhurst—even the locals aren't certain. Later, after we sat down, the waiter instructed a Russian-speaking friend, "You're supposed to put a quarter in... More >>>