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Smorgasburg is back with a spanking new outdoor line-up, opening for the spring/summer season on April 6th. We can't believe it's already been nine—nine! seasons of Franken-foods. In addition to Smorgasburg's Williamsburg East River State Park location (Saturdays) and Breeze Hill in Prospect Park (Sundays), this year you can also expect a new Friday food market near the Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center. Thanks to a sneak-preview, we tried the wackiest, most wonderful new vendor additions for summer and these are our favorites. What to check out the rest? Head to our complete list of Smorgasburg 2019 outdoor vendors.
THE HIT-LIST:
Vendy-award-winning veggie korma at Nansense (Saturday + Sunday): Named "Rookie of the Year" at the 2018 Vendys (the Oscars for food trucks) expect Nansense's Afghan comfort staples like mantu (Afghan dumplings) and veggie or chicken korma.
Vietnamese flan coffee jelly treats at Kochin (Saturday + Sunday): Inspired by afterschool snacking on flan doused in coffee back in their native Vietnam, the team behind Kochin reinterprets the French-Vietnamese treat for the Instagram age. The massive dessert features flan, caramelized bananas, coffee ice cream and jellies, sesame cookies, as well as a pipette filled with Vietnamese coffee. Pairing their backgrounds in food science and fashion, this dessert is aesthetically pleasing and delicious, but you'll definitely need a friend to help you finish the heaping sweets. We're interested in trying the "Beauty Dose" (coconut ice cream, avocado pudding, cacao nibs, toasted coconut and aloe vera pulp).
Traditional german dumplings-turned-sandwiches at Muzzles (Saturday only): If you're not familiar with "maulstasche," they're a southern German grandma favorite. Basically, they look like rectangular pillows filled with meat. At Muzzles, they get an upgrade, set in between soft pretzel buns with caramelized onions.
Geometric kombucha pops at The Better Pop (Saturday only): Now you can have your probiotics as dessert. The Better Pop makes kombucha treats on a stick in flavors like piña colada. The best part? The pop gets frozen in a geometric mold to optimize better grips on bites, almost like a deconstructed rubik's cube.
Purple corn polenta sourdough at Millers and Makers (Saturday only): When you're totally stuffed from all the other stands' bites, you can expedite some grocery shopping at Millers and Makers. Pick up one of their insanely complex sourdough breads to savor some of the fun for later. Made using freshly milled grain, you won't want to miss their daily-made breads to use in your meals throughout the week.
Tamales from a Cosme-alum at La Tropikitchen (Saturday + Sunday): Run by Stephanie Del Carmen (who formerly worked at 2019 James Beard finalist, Daniela Soto-Innes' Cosme) her first venture on her own goes back to her Colombian roots with delicious tamales. She's also going to start selling the funky tropical fruit aprons that her staff wears made by her mother.
Overall, we're excited that there's a lot of food world clout behind this year's line-up. Other notables include Chinatown legends Jing Fong, a 40 year-old dim sum spot, where you'll be able to get peking duck, pan fried dumplings and steamed pork buns; and those wagyu sandos you've seen everywhere will be available from Tojo's Kitchen. Another name you may be hearing a lot about is The Pizza Cupcake, which unfortunately sounded a lot crazier than it actually was. We were expecting icing or more of a cupcake shape, but still, the brioche-style pizza dough was a great, no-mess bite for on-the-go eating.
Smorgasburg reopens on Saturday, April 6th and will be in Williamsburg every Saturday:
East River State Park is located at 90 Kent Ave (entrance at North 7 St), 11 am- 6pm.