Christina’s Restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Photo: Brittany Robins.

For 21 years, Christina’s Restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn has maintained an authentic Polish culinary tradition in an ever-evolving neighborhood.

Polish cuisine as served at Christina’s is mildly spiced and heavy on meat, potatoes, cabbage and anything made with dough. But it is the pierogi, a Polish dumpling, for which the Manhattan Avenue restaurant is known, both here and in Poland. Numerous traveling Polish politicians and public figures have walked through the restaurant’s doors to order the signature dish.

“The pierogi is the classic Polish dish. It’s not fancy but it’s everyone’s favorite—like ravioli in Italy or dumplings in China. This is the Polish version of that,” said Jerzy Swiatkowski, 60, who has helped 57-year-old owner Krystyna Dura manage the restaurant for nine years.

Left: The Polish platter includes a stuffed cabbage, beef goulash, mashed potatoes, pierogis and sausage. Right: Christina’s signature cheese blintzes with fruit on top. Photo: Brittany Robins.

Greenpoint has been home to the second largest concentration of Polish immigrants in the United States since the 1970s, after Chicago—earning the moniker “Little Poland.”

“Greenpoint was the first stop for Polish people who came to New York because everything here was familiar to them,” said Bozena Kaminski, CEO of the Polish & Slavic Center in Greenpoint.

Polish bakeries, grocery stores and churches still line the street, but they exist alongside Duane Reades, pizza joints, and nail and tanning salons.

In the past decade, gentrification and a more stable economy in Poland have caused much of the neighborhood’s Polish population to move to other boroughs or return to Poland. Many locals say that this has greatly diluted a once-potent Polish community.

Poland joined the European Union in 2004, and the population of first-generation Polish immigrants living in Greenpoint declined from 13,660 in 2000 to 7,873 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau—a nearly 50 percent reduction.

“There are not that many Polish people coming from Europe anymore since Poland joined the European Union,” said Kaminski, who added that the center, which has been the hub of the Polish community in Greenpoint, has seen a 20 percent drop in members since 2007. For those who remain, Christina’s is the cornerstone of comfort food that many diners say reminds them of home.

Dura’s approach is hands-on; she greets patrons out front, answers the phone, and oversees the kitchen. Dura tries to serve authentic Polish fare, but has made changes over time because of her changing clientele.

One side of the menu offers traditional Polish fare, ranging from blintzes and pierogis to stuffed cabbage and potato pancakes—some derived from Dura’s family recipes and others from chef Janina Maciulewicz, who has cooked at the restaurant since it opened and was trained in Poland. The opposite side of the menu offers American options like Christina’s omelet, which features avocado, spinach and Swiss cheese, along with salads with French or balsamic dressing. They have even begun fusing cuisines, and now offer pierogis stuffed with ricotta and spinach.

Chef Janina Maciulewicz prepares cheese blintzes in the kitchen. Photo: Brittany Robins.

“The restaurant changed with the clientele. It’s now about 70 percent American, 30 percent Polish. But our base is still Polish cooking,” said Dura.

While staff members and some patrons speak Polish and the soup of the day is white borscht, thumping American top-40 songs blare from a loudspeaker, and an autographed photograph of Woody Allen hangs on the wall.

Even the spelling of the restaurant’s name has been Americanized; the eponymous eatery is named after Krystyna the owner, but is spelled “Christina.”

But gentrification has its downside, said Dura, particularly the escalating rent.

“I am not in a great situation with the lease. Year after year the landlord is giving me a higher price,” said Dura. “Business is not great in this area because of the high rent and they’re still thinking to raise it more.” Dura said that over 21 years she has had different lease lengths. “I had a lease for five years, for two, then for another five—it depends on the situation of the market. Landlords when they see the rents in the area’s going up they don’t give you too long a lease because they’re afraid they’re going to be charging lower than everybody around them.”

Rising rents pose a problem not only for Dura’s business but for some of the restaurant’s customers.

Sandra Morales, 46, has frequented Christina’s restaurant for the last decade. The former legal secretary grew up in Greenpoint and continues to call the neighborhood home, even though she is now tangled in a legal battle over her living situation. “I might be kicked out of my apartment. I’ve been paying rent-stabilized and the landlord wants to split the lot up in a different way,” said Morales, munching on her stack of banana pancakes from the American side of the menu.

Others, like Gary Otto, 73, have benefitted from the escalating prices in Greenpoint. “I bought my house for $350,000 years ago and I just sold it for $2 million. It’s crazy—I got triple what I paid for 15 years ago,” said Otto, a retired engineer.

Otto is German-born but has lived in Greenpoint for 35 years. He begins his daily routine with a visit to Christina’s, where he orders his favorites, cheese blintzes or omelets. He characterized the food as European, which reminds him of his German heritage.

“This is the old-fashion stuff,” said Otto. “The Polish, they’re leaving here little by little and change is coming so I’m taking advantage of this authentic restaurant.”

Morales said that she finds solace in the comfort food and relaxing atmosphere of the restaurant, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“I’ve been dealing with a lot of fatigue and cognitive problems, so this restaurant makes me feel warm and cozy,” she said. She appreciates the affordability of the restaurant, where prices range from $4.50 to $15.

Cydney Simpson, 29, is new to New York, and ventured from Manhattan to Greenpoint to sample the Polish food at Christina’s because it is reminiscent of the Jewish cooking she grew up with in Toronto.

“I ordered the potato pancakes, which in Jewish cooking we call ‘latkes.’ They remind me of my childhood when my mom and grandmother used to make them for the holidays,” said Simpson, spreading a layer of applesauce over the deep-fried disc.

Potato pancakes with apple sauce. Photo: Brittany Robins

Just as customers visit the establishment to reconnect with their heritage, Dura opened the restaurant to keep her past alive.

She moved to New York from Krakow, Poland in 1989 with her then-eight-year-old daughter and husband. Dura worked as a waitress for four years in Manhattan until she and her husband saved up enough money to make a down payment and fulfill her dream of opening a restaurant.

“It’s not easy to come to a different country, not know the language, learn the laws and be successful for so many years,” said Dura.

Her daughter, now an adult, works in finance and has chosen not to get involved in the restaurant—a decision that Dura said she supports.  Dura will sell it when she decides to retire, although she shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. “Ten years down the line I think the restaurant will still be around—I hope so,” she said.

Some restaurateurs define success in terms of numbers, but Dura defines it in a different way.

“Years ago I was thinking about opening more than one place, but it’s not easy to handle a chain,” she said. “So I said to myself, maybe I focus on one place and make it a good name with traditional Polish food than being spread over different restaurants, and that was my success.”

Kaminski is confident that despite the dwindling Polish community, institutions like Christina’s restaurant will keep the area’s Polish identity from disappearing.

“Some people say that Greenpoint becoming less Polish is not a good thing because it’s losing its character,” she said. “But I think the neighborhood is going to keep that character as long as Polish businesses and organizations stay here.”