2023 NEW VENDOR LINE-UP

WTC=World Trade Center (Fridays), Oculus Plaza, NYC, 11a-7p

WB=Williamsburg (Saturdays), 90 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, 11a-6p

PP=Prospect Park (Sundays), Breeze Hill, Brooklyn, 11a-6p

The Bay Ridge institution of tableside Japanese dining morphs into a Smorgasburg stand with their trademark fried rice (sliced and diced with chef’s flare), fried ice cream, and crispy-rice sushi. Prepare to be entertained!

Bibi Bakery (WB+PP)

Lena Derisavifard reimagines Iranian flavors to create unique and addictive pastries, inspired by the Iranian women of her childhood who raised her with an appreciation for Persian flavors and culture. With her signature spiced-walnut and cardamom-rose baklava at the heart, Bibi is adding two showstoppers to the menu: three flavors of baklava ice-cream sandwiches (one with baklava cookies *and* ice cream, one rolled in gold leaf, another rolled in flowers) and an Iranian saffron snow cone known as “Frozen Gold.” Artful and delightful.

BunNan (PP)

A play on the Haitian word for plantain (“bannan”), chef, author, and recent Big Brunch contestant Nadege Fleurimond’s Flatbush Central booth has been attracting lovers of her Haitian cuisine since opening last year. For Smorgasburg, she spins plantains every which way: as chips for nachos, as loaded fries, as a sweet-plantain boat, and smashed as a delicious sandwich. Topped with a spicy mushroom mix, jerk chicken, or the hit, griot pork.

Chop Chop Tea (PP)

Proudly representing the Hakka community of China, Yonglin Cheng and her team strive to serve their native cuisine to New Yorkers with a range of unique teas—black tea with grapefruit, oolong with pineapple, lime, and goji berry, green tea with green apple and cucumber—as well as perfectly spiced beef meatballs.

Cocina Consuelo (WB+PP)

Harlem’s Karina Garcia is Dominican by birth but with her husband she developed Cocina Consuelo as an ode to homestyle Mexican cooking. Her chorizo tortas are as authentic as they come, as are the Mamá Chelo jalapenos, confit and stuffed with tuna and onion. But it’s the kalacremas—cream-filled bomboloni-style brioche donuts stuffed with dulce de leche cream—that will bring the party to the yard.

Common Meadows Creamery (WB+PP)

A family-owned plant-based creamery—coconut is their base of choice—launched recently in Kingston, NY, Common Meadows’ product is smooth as silk on the tongue and an ice dream on the palette. Their matcha and espresso gelati are knockouts (the mango sorbet too), and all their products feature local and/or thoughtful purveyors in their flavorings.

Everything Oxtail (WB+PP)

From helping his mother in the kitchen growing up in Trinidad to coming to the U.S. at age 20 to pursue his culinary career to creating menus at the James Beard House and Gracie Mansion, Osei Blackett (aka “Chef Picky”) is now chef/owner of Flatbush’s “Ariapita,” “Chef Picky Events + Catering,” and the popular “Picky Experience” pop-ups. His new concept for Smorgasburg takes the rich beefy staple of his native Trinidad, braises it to tender perfection, and incorporates it into dishes with broad appeal like plantain-oxtail nachos and fried bake and oxtail. One to watch.

Healthy as a Motha (WB)

Yesenia Ramdass adopted a conscious lifestyle at an early age that has blossomed into a passion for delicious yet clean plant foods. A first-generation Dominican-American married to a husband from Trinidad, she blends flavors from the two places in dishes like a vegetarian bake ‘n’ shark, a vegan sweet-plantain boat, and nine-grain pholourie with a range of tangy chutneys. All handmade with care.

Hen House NYC (WB+PP)

Antony Nassif (aka Tony Bacon) tapped into his Lebanese heritage when he came up with the recipe for his bottled piri piri, the bright and versatile Portuguese hot sauce (available locally). Now he’s kicking it up a notch with perfectly balanced (homemade pickles help, as does a Bien Cuit pain au lait bun) charcoal-grilled chicken piri piri sammies, as well as a maitake veggie version. Sick.

Jase’s BBQ (PP + WTC starting June)

Rockaway’s Jase Franklyn learned the craft of barbecue from his mother in his native Tobago, cooking for extended-family holiday gatherings. After moving to the US to attend college in 2003, he launched Jase’s BBQ in 2018 and by 2019 his jerk pork and BBQ pigtails garnered Best Food Overall at the NYC Bacon and Beer Classic. “Smoked and seasoned to perfection,” his BBQ adds a lilt of island spice to both his rubs and sauces, and his ribs, brisket, and chicken wings—mostly grilled/smoked onsite—will be a sure-fire hit.

Kalye (PP)

Wayne Lopez recently opened Kalye (literally “street” in Tagalog) on Broome St. on the Lower East Side, and his modern Filipino stand follows on its heels, highlighting dishes such as their spice-rich longganisa sliders (on ube buns, naturally), vinegar-marinated chicken inasal wings, and vegetarian lumpia. Flavor for days.

Keyks World (WB+PP)

Janice de Castro’s velvety sponge cakes (“keyks”) filled with cream-cheese buttercream are a riff on the classic Hostess junk food, but hers are handmade and showcase the palette of her native Philippines: ube, pandan, jackfruit, and more. Jae has also concocted a “Mix-Mix” that riffs on classic halo halo, adding jackfruit to the mix as well as fruits and jellies that create a jumble of textures and tastes for a perfect summer treat.

Lemak Kitchen (PP)

A tiny LIC ghost kitchen now expanding to Smorgasburg, Lemak Kitchen is Kesh Dhami’s faithful, concise postcard to his native Malaysia. Chicken satay redolent with herbs and spices, a beef rendang (served on bao buns) that knocks your socks off, and a sago pudding (made with tapioca pearls) with gula melaka (palm sugar) whose flavor-feel combos are at once surprising and soothing.

Maca’s by Nikky (WB+PP)

Far Rockaway’s Nicole (Nikky) Guerrero started making macarons (macas) during lockdown (when else?), and before long she had a little side hustle going on via social-media sales. Her seasonal/special character creations—snowmen, gingerbread men, pumpkins, teddy bears, and on and on—are cute as a button, and her endless flavors are brightly colored, creatively displayed, and soft and crunchy in that special way.

Madras Tiffin Co. (WB)

Dosa, vada, and idly were ubiquitous in the village 70 miles south of Chennai, India, where Vinodh Anchaliya grew up. The dearth of decent such fare in the US after he moved here in 1997 ushered in years of making dosa at home for his Indian family and neighbors. Larger gatherings followed, and now the larger stage of Smorgasburg, with his fermented-batter dosa—traditional fillings include onion, cheese, and roast cauliflower—black-lentil-flour vada fritters, and battered-jalapeno bhaji as stars of the show. Healthy-ish, divine, timeless taste.

Mikhuy Peruvian Restaurant (PP)

Less than a year after mother-daughter team Steasy and Graciela opened tiny Mikhuy on 4th Ave. in South Slope, they are expanding to Smorgasburg with a stand that showcases their hyperfocus on authentic ingredients and Peruvian street foods. Their classic ceviche (Mikhuy means “to eat” in Quechua, Peru’s indigenous language) is layered with tuna salad, golden-potato terrine, lime-marinated white fish, and toasted chulpe corn kernels. It’s joined on the menu by an anticucho of beef-heart slices, marinated before being charcoal-grilled, and a stunning dessert of sweet potato-and-pumpkin doughnuts drizzled with apple-fig syrup, known as picarones.

Mochidoki (WTC + PP)

Building on the success of their global-destination Soho shop, Mochidoki brings their imaginative and beautiful rice-flour ice-cream concoctions to Smorgasburg, where homemade ice-cream and vegan-sorbet flavors run the gamut from classic (matcha, black sesame, red bean) to bold (espresso, earl grey, chocolate hazelnut) to fun-loving (lychee, purple sweet potato, jasmine boba). In lively colors made with vegetable and fruit dyes, a treat for all the senses.

Paella Party CT (PP)

Larissa Hrabec and Alberto Salas have been crushing parties in Connecticut since 2021 with their land-and-sea and traditional Valencian paellas, prepared in the classic giant paella pans. (Finally Smorgasburg gets a giant paella stand!) Trained over 15 years in Manhattan institutions including Le Coucou and Blaue Gans, Venezuelan native Alberto pours his training and heart and soul into rich, aromatic, exquisite paella that are a feast for all to enjoy—whether watching, smelling, or eating. Breakout hit.

Patok By Rach (WB + PP)

Hanna “Rach” Abada slow-roasts whole pigs Filipino-style and serves the lechon belly meat sliced as a platter, sandwich, or chopped up as sisig or inside lumpia. The rich succulent pork is fall-off tender inside with finger-licking crispy skin, all of which makes for a weekend indulgence like no other.

Tang Hulu NYC (PP)

The Northern Chinese rock sugar–coated fruit skewers known as tanghulu arrive in full regalia to Smorgasburg via Chef Ivy Chen, who trained at Daniel, Nobu, and Lincoln before winning second place at the US Pastry Junior Competition and then opening her cafe Xin Xing Desserts in Parkchester in The Bronx. Ivy and partner Sizhen dip starfruit, pink pineapple, and more in sugar that quickly solidifies and cutely display them on Chupa Chups “trees.” Instagram gold.

Ume NYC (WB)

It’s been a long few years—why shouldn’t we have taiyaki shaped like cute French bulldogs? The team behind veteran vendor Tojo’s Kitchen (wagyu burgers on charcoal buns) branches out with Ume NYC (Japanese for yummy). Their custom waffle-iron pup-design yields to warm homemade custard fillings that include traditional (red-bean, matcha) and crowd-pleasing (banana-cream, chocolate). Look out for an LIC cafe soon too.

Uncle Yankey’s Peppa! (WB+PP)

Growing up (you guessed it) in Trinidad, Kevon Heath looked to pepper sauce to spice up meals that were sometimes only rice, imprinting an indelible love for the condiment. Birthed during Covid when he had time to perfect recipes, Uncle Yankey’s robust tropical pepper sauces (pineapple, avocado, banana)—warm with heat but not aggressively hot—have just hit shelves around the metro region. For Smorgasburg Heath’s highlighting his peppa by serving pineapple chow, a Trinidadian fruit dish that adds garlic, culantro, and chili-pepper heat to create a sweet-savory salad akin to Mexican mango with tajin powder or Thai green-papaya salad. Fire.

Unregular Pasta (PP)

A viral social hit that poofed out of their Unregular Pizza shoebox shop on 4th Ave. in the East Village last year, these three Romans’ fried-pasta concoctions conjure the classic street food pasta frittata with a twist. Handmade spaghetti cacio i pepe or alla vodka (lasagna bolognese too) is molded into a brick shape, battered in corn-flake crust, and golden-fried for a crunchy/soft comfort food like no other, with a marinara dip to sauce things up. Molto bene.