Here’s a Sneak Peak at The Best New Smorgasburg Vendors

The fun, fiercely diverse, and consistently vital weekly Smorgasburg food market sets up shop for its 15th (!) season this weekend, running on Saturdays at Marsha P. Johnson State Park on the Williamsburg waterfront, and on Sundays at Breeze Hill in Prospect Park.

There are some 70 different vendors this year, slinging everything from shawarma to sushi to sorrel to sambal to smash burgers to sweetbread skewers, including a rookie class of more than 20 new ventures, many of which, as is true of the market as a whole, are first-generation immigrant and/or family-run outfits.

“Every year in November I worry but, inevitably, this perfect number of vendors, like 45 vendors, want to come back, and we have 15 to 20 open spots. So the mix changes every year. There’s a kind of eternal renewal,” Smorgasburg co-founder Eric Demby told Brooklyn Magazine. “The key to this remains that, as a vendor, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to explore your dream, and you make money right away. That is not common in business. And when guests visit Smorgasburg, they see the whole world represented. We appreciate that more than ever these days.”

Last week at their headquarters in Red Hook, the Smorgasburg brass threw a preview party for many of the newbies, who showed off their stuff to select media members and other VIPs.

Here’s a look at some of the best things we ate while the sun went down on Commerce Street.

The big winner on the night were the sandwiches from Jamaican native Jaime Randle’s first-ever food business Coco Bred, which’ll be at both Brooklyn venues all summer. It’s a pretty simple idea: put Jamaican favorites like oxtail, curry goat, jerk chicken, and coconut curry chickpeas inside a triangle of soft, sweet coco bread, and you have a perfect, portable meal.

Randle’s stews and such—the sandwich fillings—are all incredible. Just hardcore bangers up and down the menu, loaded with big flavors, bringing the heat when needed, the meat all tender and juicy. And the coco bread itself is some of the best I’ve ever had—just unbelievably fluffy and light but still up to the task of holding in all that gloppy goodness. Randle gets the bread made by a private baker, using a proprietary recipe, and it’s phenomenal.

“I was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and I love Jamaican food,” Randle said. “So these are part family recipes, and part my own. I’ve lived all over the world, so at Coco Bred I’ve taken my global experience and mixed it with Jamaican flavors.” Someone give her a storefront so we can eat these things all the time!

Also fun and fabulous are the Caesars coming out of Ashley Dufour’s banging new booth BOY Salad. “Wait, what?” you’re saying. “I’m supposed to get excited about a salad?” Yes, you heard that right, you absolutely are. Dufour told Brooklyn Magazine that she came up with her recipe back in college, in her home state of Georgia, and it rocks so hard. The kale is bright and springy, the dressing is rosemary-heavy with lots of lemon and fresh garlic, the croutons are crunchy and homemade, and the high-grade shredded and grated parmesan is dumped up with a generous hand.

“I’ve tried every Caesar salad that’s gone viral in this city, and there’s a reason we want to bring this one to the people,” Dufour said. “BOY Salad is the best Caesar salad in New York.” Shots fired, all other salads! Huge bonus too: Dufour is also a DJ, with a deep love for house music, and at Smorgasburg she’s hosting a series of “Saturday Salad Sets,” so get ready to dance while you wolf that creamy kale.

Two iconic NYC food categories are represented among the noobs this summer. Bay Ridge resident and longtime Mill Basin Deli guy Louis Addonizio debuts his Pastrami Underground at both Brooklyn locations, slinging stacks of fatty, funky smoked meat set between a pair of nicely greasy latkes, with homemade pickles on the side. This is obviously great. And this year’s new Smorg pizza comes from Corrado Cervelli’s Culto Italiano, whose gooey, chewy Neapolitan-style beasts totally hit the spot.       

Rounding out our savory favorites among the new vendors are the boats of fried swimmers at the B&E Fish and Chips, from familiar Smorg figures Ben Tomaiuolo—among other places, he worked at the legendary Bon Chovie booth—and Evan Fuchs. The B&E breaded deep-fried fillets crackle, the dipping sauces, especially the curry one, are terrific, and the salty fries play their sidekick role with aplomb.

For dessert, Ivy Chen’s dragon beard candy—a traditional Chinese confection that dates back to the Han Dynasty—is an absolute must. Centuries ago only the elite were allowed to eat the stuff, and even today, Chen told us, the recipes are a closely guarded secret. She hacked the technique though, she said, for her new venture Dragon Lulu, and now all of us have a chance to live like royalty. Basically, it’s an ethereal hand-pulled floss enrobing either toasted nuts or freeze-dried fruit, and it’s a melt-in-your-mouth, full-on flavor bomb.

Another sweet treat to consider comes from social-media-famous Chocolate on Tap, which drizzles all sorts of lovely, luscious toppings—chocolate, cookie butter, “Dubai-style” pistachio syrup—into a cup filled with strawberries.

And if you want your berries in liquid form, I highly recommend Brooklyn native Jacqueline Rodney’s strawberry matcha at Wakari Tea. Not only is this a delicious and super satisfying beverage, the ritualistic process offers an excellent lesson in mindfulness. “I grew up in Midwood and have been going to Smorgasburg for like 12 years,” Ridney said. “So it’s kind of an insane full-circle moment for me. I’m really excited to be here.”

Starting this weekend and running through October, Smorgasburg will be at Marsha P. Johnson Park on the Williamsburg waterfront on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and at Breeze Hill in Prospect Park on Sundays, also from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m

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