by MacKenzie O’Brien
Loyal patrons of Smorgasburg — a weekly local food festival on Williamsburg’s waterfront — don’t see the recent launch of a Smorgasburg outpost at Whole Foods’ Bowery location as a threat to the throngs trekking to Brooklyn every weekend.
Felix Sanders, a Williamsburg local, applauds the efforts by Whole Foods and Smorgasburg to bring the venue to Manhattan, but he doubts it will have the same notoriety. “It won’t be as big of a deal for Manhattan, but it’s great for the vendors to get more exposure,” he said.
“Even the bars and restaurants that aren’t in the market benefit,” said Sanders, who was interviewed while waiting in line at AsiaDog, a vendor of uniquely Asian inspired hotdogs. Not only does Smorgasburg attract its own customers, but the event brings business in droves to the shops nearby including flea markets, thrift shops and bistros.
On a recent weekend at Smorgasburg, Maria Vargas, a regular attendee of Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, expressed the pride the festival has brought to the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and DUMBO, where the event is hosted Saturdays and Sundays respectively, but questioned if Manhattan has the same community camaraderie.
“It gives people a reason to come over here from Manhattan,” Vargas said. “It just won’t have the same feel at Whole Foods.”
In 2011 the famed Brooklyn Flea, one of the largest flea markets on the East Coast, introduced its newest expansion, Smorgasburg. The food festival hosts nearly 50 food vendors every Saturday on Williamsburg’s East River waterfront and every Sunday in DUMBO during the spring and summer months.
New York City’s foodies rejoice in the atmosphere, feasting in nearby parks and gormandizing while strolling through the accompanying flea market ripe with local artisan goods.
From vegan ice cream at Alchemy Creamery’s food stand to the hotdogs from the Michelin Star Chef at Brooklyn Bangers or the Filipino favorites served up at Adobo Shack, diverse cuisines from around the tri-state area convene here to share their wares.
This spring the Brooklyn Flea is crossing the river to make the great finds at Smorgasburg more accessible to the masses of Manhattan. The grocery giant Whole Foods Market is teaming up with the project to feature several local food vendors throughout the season at their Bowery location on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Each month Whole Foods’ Bowery location will host a different local food vendor from the Brooklyn Flea in their second floor dining and restaurant space giving extensive exposure to smaller local food businesses.
The current in-house vendor at the Bowery Whole Foods is Yuji Ramen, a relatively new niche Japanese cuisine endeavor spearheaded by chef Yuji Haraguchi. The focus is mazemen ramen, a broth-less version of classic ramen noodles that is a growing trend in Japan.
Further expanding their partnership, the Smorgasburg “Snack Bar” will serve as a specialty shop within the Bowery store featuring products from the Brooklyn Flea when it opens in 2013.
“The unique partnership between Whole Foods Market and the Brooklyn Flea is seen as an investment in encouraging entrepreneurship and shining a spotlight on growing responsible, local food businesses,” Whole Foods said in a statement released announcing the Smorgasburg endeavor.
Smorgasburg at Whole Foods has been a hit, though. The success of Yuji Ramen at the Bowery Whole Foods has led to an extension of his stay until mid-August. “Customer’s feedback was very positive so we’re going to extend it another three months,” Haraguchi said.
He also continues his outpost at Smorgasburg and has a new restaurant in Brooklyn in the pipeline called Okonomi. “It’s Japanese for ‘as you like it’ and we will have an omakase tasting menu,” said Haraguchi. An opening is slated for July of August of this year.