Pierogi Day, Ukrainian Style

Plus a few other Eastern European-style dishes for fall

The other day I learned from a friend there’s a pierogi pickup with Ukrainians cooking at an apartment nearby in Jersey City, where I live; she DM’ed me the contact info over Instagram. I emailed on a Monday, and within minutes, I heard back from someone named Zenia, who told me I could choose among three types of pierogies: potato with cheese, sauerkraut, or mushroom, and they’d be ready the next day. (I gather it wasn’t going by vareniki since more Americans know them as pierogies.)

Tuesday arrived, and I parked across the street from the apartment at dusk. The pickup is outside a first-floor window outfitted with a Ring doorbell. I rang the bell, and a man opened the window; his bullmastiff greeted me, ducking his giant head out to survey the sidewalk as he stood on the sill.