The latest Brooklyn transplant has bit the dust and moved to Los Angeles; only this time, there’s no dramatic goodbye-to-all-that essay—just a trail of delicious food and drink.
The installment of famous Brooklyn food and shopping market Smorgasburg has moved into its new home in ROW DTLA (which is also home to the Alameda Produce Market ), and—to the surprise of no one who has ever braved the lines for a Ramen Burger— Smorgasburg L.A. was just as much the packed bazaar New Yorkers have come to love (albeit begrudgingly). Out of 48 food vendors at Smorgasburg L.A., six are crossovers from New York, having followed the bazaar West for the opportunity to spread their wings to an additional coast.
Amongst nearly 100 food and lifestyle vendors, anything cold is clearly king in the midst of L.A.’s summer heat waves: Amazebowls , fruit and smoothie bowls served in a coconut; Paloma’s Paletas , handcrafted popsicles in flavors like iced coconut, pink lemonade, and pineapple; Nana Pops , frozen banana pops dipped in chocolate; and Stand Coffee , another New York City original boasting specialty iced coffees that are a play on alcoholic beverages: the Haught Toddy (made of coffee, lemon, honey, and cinnamon), and the Almond Palmer (comprised of cold brew, lemon, vanilla, and almond milk), are signatures.
Stalls hawking quick and easy foods like sushi, tacos, and sandwiches also found themselves besieged by the classic Smorgasburg hoards, making Goa Taco (also an NYC staple), Mama Musubi (heavenly, fluffy gourmet rice balls and sushi—including a Spam sushi option), and Ugly Drum Pastrami very popular. When a rare breeze hit, no one seemed able to resist the mouthwatering smell of the charcoal grilled shellfish at Lobsterdamus …practically every third person I walked by on opening day was chowing down on lobster to-go.
Mama Msubi’s rice balls are one of the breakout stars of Smorgasburg L.A. Photo by Eboni Harris
Event organizers and creators Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler seemed to know what their new city needed before we even did. They left no detail un-dealt-with, from free parking for the first two hours (a must in the notoriously bad parking of downtown L.A.), to the cooling tents complete with fans and water misters set up at various spots throughout the market (bad for the drought, but great for visitors). These thoughtful touches are part of what has made the original Smorgasburg such a success.
Smorgasburg launched in 2011 as a weekly food bazaar on the water in Williamsburg, an offshoot of the Brooklyn Flea (the massive flea market created by Demby and Butler in 2008)., Featuring huge numbers of local and regional vendors in one physical location, Smorgasburg offered hot and prepared food on-site as well as vintage and other non-edible goods vendors carried over from Brooklyn Flea. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the most popular food events in Brooklyn, drawing as many as 10,000 visitors a day , and as the buzz grew and their brand became recognizable nationwide, Demby and Butler began to consider expanding.
They launched smaller markets in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. , but neither grew close to the size or stature of the original, and the Philadelphia market closed permanently in the fall of 2013. Shortly after, Demby and Butler turned their eyes west, drawn by the year-round temperate weather (a dream for outdoor market organizers, who scramble to find a new indoor venue every time New York’s weather turns). They also were beckoned by friends that had fled the hustle and bustle of New York City for the California sunshine—a phenomenon succinctly outlined by N.Y.C to L.A. transplant and musician Moby in this piece for The Guardian .
The scene at the original Smorgasburg, in Williamsburg. Photo courtesy of Smorgasburg
“My partner and I run Smorgasburg together,” said Eric Demby. “We decided the company was mature enough to try it. We have a lot of friends that moved out here, a lot of professional connectivity in L.A. these days. There is more of a creative agency life here.”
Demby went out to Los Angeles in December, to test the concept and check out locations and vendors. After that week of meeting people, he came away feeling confident that Smorgasburg could build a brand in Los Angeles.. “It’s been the most rewarding professional project I’ve done,” he says.
He and Butler poked around for some Los Angeles venues rather unsuccessfully, until Atlas Capital —the owners of the 30-acre property on which Smorgasburg L.A. is held— approached them last year to be a part of a redevelopment project for the six-building area .
“They [Atlas] are building a live/work/entertainment district around the site of the Alameda Produce Market, so they brought us in as a way of activating it,” said Demby, who has helmed the L.A. expansion while Butler monitors the opening of another new Smorgasburg site in upstate New York . “The Alameda market has been there for 100 years . It’s a big part of land that’s really well positioned, and they’re committing to it. We’re building a community around this market, just the same as what we did in New York, and they really get what we’re about.”
“What they’re about” is providing family-friendly food experiences and events to patrons, as well as an inexpensive place for people to launch new businesses. They seek to connect people not just with food, but with those that make it, giving vendors a smooth operational experience, built-in promotional capability, and association with a recognized brand. Selling at Smorgasburg gives even the greenest of vendors a serious stamp of approval. After nine years of Brooklyn Flea and five of Smorgasburg, Demby and Butler have their outdoor markets running like well-oiled machines, and are often credited with launching the careers of many up-and-coming culinary artists and food entrepreneurs in New York .
Visitors brave the heat to take in the new Smorgasburg in Downtown Los Angeles. Photo by Eboni Harris
For example, BBQ brand Mighty Quinn’s began as a stand there helmed by Texas pit master Hugh Magnum, and now boasts four Manhattan locations, as well as three in Brooklyn, and one in New Jersey. Smorgasburg looks to have that same effect in Los Angeles, which is part of why they hired L.A. food blogger and podcaster Zach Brooks to curate the food vendors, and West Coast editor for Dazed and Confused Magazine , Jessica Hundley , to find lifestyle and goods vendors.
It’s not exactly smooth sailing to set up shop at Smorgasburg. The staff goes through a rigorous six-month vetting process of accepting applications, tasting food, and screening vendors, culminating in the best of the best at the market. Stars have already emerged in the early weeks of Smorgasburg L.A., including Nicole Rucker , former pastry chef at Venice restaurant Gjelina and current donut-making extraordinaire at Fairfax Village coffee shop Cofax , who was a hit with her own pie stand. Other food vendors included Ramen Burger , which initially launched and constantly mobbed at Smorgasburg Brooklyn, and Sticky Rice , a well-known Thai food stand at Grand Central Market .
Demby maintains that they will continue to place emphasis on the same kinds of things in L.A. as they do in New York: developing close relationships with the neighborhood, sourcing vendors locally, and working with the community. He also says that despite the different urban landscape, the timing of the move is similar to when they launched Brooklyn Flea almost a decade ago.
“Ten years ago, Brooklyn was super cool, but it wasn’t on the map in the way it is now,” he said. “L.A. is similar […] there’s this really magical moment happening in terms of the food scene out here, but the dots haven’t been connected. You go to a farmer’s market and that’s one kind of event, or to a pop-up, and that’s another kind of event. We hope to connect the dots with our physical spot. We’re combining a lot of the best things of the city into one event, and that’s always been the bread and butter of the market.”
In a city where trying out the newest food trend, restaurant or class can mean driving past the city limits or sitting in traffic for hours, the concentration of food, shopping, and events all in one place is certainly a breath of fresh air amidst the smog. And after all—where else in Los Angeles can you get lobster, spam, pastrami on rye, and free parking all in one place?
Smorgasburg L.A. is located at South Alameda Street and Bay Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021. It takes place every Sunday from 10a.m. to 6 p.m.
Want more of what makes Los Angeles’ food scene so incredible? Us too. That’s why we’re curating the best of the best in taste with the help of Kelis for our first-ever Taste Talks Los Angeles , happening November 4-6 at The Line Hotel. Grab your ticket now !
