BROOKLYN FLEA SMORGASBURG MOVES TO EAST RIVER STATE PARK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2013
Contact: Eric Demby, 917.579.7435; [email protected]
www.brooklynflea.com

New Williamsburg site open every weekend April to November; Fort Greene Flea and Brooklyn Bridge Park Smorgasburg return; Dozens of new Smorgasburg vendors added; Markets celebrate 5th anniversary April 6; Record fair joins Red Bull Music Academy May 4; Whole Foods pop-up partnership expands with Yuji Ramen and new Snack Bar for packaged products and beverages.

On Saturday, April 6, Brooklyn Flea celebrates the fifth anniversary of its inaugural market—when nearly 20,000 people showed up at a Fort Greene schoolyard on a chilly early-spring day with a strong chance of rain. The weather held out, word spread, and five years later the Flea operates four markets every weekend, runs the food and beverage concession at Central Park SummerStage, and is launching a beer hall with a Flea/Smorgasburg food court in Crown Heights this fall.

This season the Williamsburg site of Smorgasburg (Saturdays) and the Flea (Sundays) moves one block north to beautiful East River State Park, where the markets will occupy a large concrete slab at the corner of Kent Avenue and North 7th Street. The Saturday Flea (in Fort Greene) and Sunday Smorgasburg (Brooklyn Bridge Park/DUMBO) markets continue as they have in the past, with all four markets continuing through the November 23/24 weekend.

In addition to the more than 100 returning food vendors, several new faces join the Smorgasburg lineup for 2013, mostly at the Williamsburg location. Highlights include East River Bread, Melissa Weller’s (formerly of Roberta’s) new bagels and cream cheese line; La Esquina’s Mexican specialties; Baohaus and Eddie Huang’s booth, which adds items such as congee and zha jiang cucumber salad to its bao lineup; Rockville Market Farm of northern Vermont’s fresh sausage and egg gorditas; Hell’s Kitchen’s Kyotofu, which will hand-make tofu onsite; The Big Banana’s chocolate-covered-banana stand; newcomer Jack’s Chedbred and NY Cookery’s masterful brisket chili and cornbread stand; Hannah’s Homemade pimento cheese; El Gato Nacho’s made-from-scratch nachos; Greenpoint shop Bellocq’s well-appointed teas; two local yogurt-makers—The White Moustache’s Persian-style and Kalypso’s Greek-style; Floyd Eats, the beer-cheese offshoot of the popular Atlantic Ave. bar; Orwasher’s freshly-baked breads; Brooklyn Wok Shop’s soup dumplings; and many more.

At the Flea, the 40 new vendors accepted over the winter will make their debuts throughout the spring in Fort Greene and Williamsburg. These include young antiques collectors and refurbishers such as Trees and Nails’ salvaged-wood cutlery and JM Restoration Co.’s beautified vintage furniture; superhero mask-maker Haute Heroes; 3-D puzzle-maker Kubiya Games; porcelain tea sets, embroidery, and stuffed kittens by Bjork collaborator Starling Brood; and more.

The Flea’s twice-annual Record Fair joins the monthlong Red Bull Music Academy festival on Saturday, May 4, at East River State Park, where 40+ top collectors, DJs, and record labels will set up alongside Smorgasburg for the day. Vendors will be assembled under one large tent, with a small stage featuring DJs representing record labels at the fair that day, including DJ /rupture (Dutty Artz), Veronica Vasicka (Minimal Wave), Dean Bein (True Panther), James Pants (Stones Throw), and James Friedman (Throne of Blood). Delaware’s Dogfish Head Brewery is the event’s beer partner again this spring.

Through May 12, vendor Yuji Ramen will take over the Smorgasburg counter at Whole Foods Bowery, where he will serve dry mazemen and broth ramens for lunch, and a five-course omakase dinner with two reservation-only seatings at 6pm and 8pm Tuesday through Friday. Also at Whole Foods Bowery, the Smorgasburg Snack Bar launches today (April 1), extending the second-floor space to include a counter for packaged foods, baked goods, beverages, and housewares made by Flea and Smorgasburg vendors. Items for sale will include Dough donuts, Grady’s Cold Brew coffee, OMilk nut milks, Pipcorn snacks, Kelvin Slush frozen drinks, Butter & Scotch’s confectionary concoctions, and aprons, tea towels, and more by Claudia Pearson and Odette Williams.