LOFT by Hot Potato

Where Brighton Beach Avenue runs out and the leafy streets of Manhattan Beach begin, LOFT by Hot Potato — long known as Hot Potato House — is a neighborhood restaurant that doubles as a music room. On weekend evenings there is live music, from jazz singers to rock 'n' roll covers, and the crowd is Russian-speaking families, couples and old friends making a night of it.

The menu is Russian and Ukrainian home cooking with a few modern detours. Order draniki, crisp potato latkes with sour cream; homemade vareniki with potato; herring Odessa-style with boiled potatoes; and a bowl of borsch or solyanka. The chef's favorites include kurnik, the domed chicken pie of Russian holidays, and a salmon pie, and there is beef stroganoff for the traditionalists. For groups there are family sharing platters of meat or fish, and the bar pours house-infused vodkas alongside Georgian wines.