Smorgasbord

September 26, 2022

Every Sunday in Prospect Park, a variety of over 50 local vendors gather to showcase Brooklyns famous cuisine. This outdoor food market, known as Smorgasburg, is held from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. from April to October.

Smorgasburg was launched in 2011 and operates under the Brooklyn Flea Market, as stated on the official Brooklyn Flea website.

There are four different locations in the tristate area, including: World Trade Center, Jersey City, Williamsburg, and Prospect Park.

"Our best seller is the gay doughnut," said Bethany, a vendor who started the mini doughnut business, Bite, with her cousin Sam in 2018. "We didn't bring any today because they're made by hand and take a lot of time, but we should have some next Sunday."

Maya, who works alongside Bethany, held up her phone with an image of their most popular doughnut to show the detail that goes into making them.

Peanut Butter and his family visited Smorgasbord for the first time on Sunday, September 25th. "He's been really well behaved around all of the people and food so I think I'll take him on a walk around the park after this," said the owner of the dog.

"My sister, Rosie, started making empanadas in 2014 and when sales started to take off she needed a storefront," shared Patty Esteves who has been coming to Smorgasburg for eight years now. "She ended up using my husbands old restaurant and now we all pitch in to the business."

Rosie's Empanadas specializes in the making of Columbian empanadas.

"I'm actually a vegetarian," Nicole said while posing with a fried chicken sandwich that she and her boyfriend, Ekram, had purchased from Rooster Boy, one of the vendors at the outdoor market. "I almost don't want to eat it because it looks so good," Ekram said before taking a bite of the sandwich.

According to the official Smorgasburg website, the market is held regardless of the weather.

"It's been raining off and on all day which has effected crowds, I think, but usually we're busiest between 1 (p.m.) and 4 (p.m.)," shared Olive, senior at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and employee at the ice cream sandwich stand, The Good Batch.

It is free to enter Smoagasburg. All vendors accept cash, credit and debit cards. Select vendors do have cash minimums.

Brandon Alminestiano, 23, Fox News producer, said, "I moved to Brooklyn like four months ago and I've come here almost every Sunday... It never gets old, there's always something new to try."