Hungry crowds crammed into Brooklyn's Atlantic Center mall last Saturday for the grand opening of the Smorgasburg Flea Winter Market, featuring 25 food vendors from the insanely popular summertime eating destination. For the more shopping-oriented folks among you, there are also 25 vendors from the Brooklyn Flea here, selling vintage clothing, accessories, furniture, jewelry, posters, decor, vinyl, and nostalgia-inducing toys at the always-packed Dan's Parent's House.
As is the custom, many of the food vendors have introduced a new, more cold-weather-orientated menu for the Winter Market. Keizo Shimamoto supplements his Ramen Burger stand with a pop-up version of the excellent Ramen Shack, serving bowls of Classic Tonkotsu as well as a "Vintage Veggie" version. The crew at Mutz will sell you their oversized Cheesy Garlic Knots and/or a pile of Baked Macaroni with a meatball on top. Team Rooster Boy is wintering as Pho-Cup; El Perrito, a mashup of D'Abruzzo and Wood Fired, has crazy Columbian-style hot dogs on offer as well as boats of Papita Completas, which are like potato chip nachos; and both Thai Bird and Noodle Lane introduce new spicy seafood soups.
Other edible items of note include Pizza Cupcakes, which really aren't either of those things, Avocaderia's chip-crusted, deep-fried Guac Balls with salsa dip, and Destination Dumplings usual array of stuffed delights. Wowfulls's waffle ice cream creations, Do's deep-fried balls of cookie dough, and Bona Bona's scoops will satisfy all your dessert needs, the latter featuring torched-to-order meringue on top everything, including its new Hot Chocolate Lava Cake. There's coffee via The Stand, and lots of alcohol available.
The Atlantic Center may lack the charm of some of the past Winter Market locations—the giant room here used to be an OfficeMax—but there is space for lots of seating throughout. It could definitely use a couple more bathrooms though.
(Scott Lynch / Gothamist)
Smorgasburg Winter Market is located at 625 Atlantic Avenue right across from Barclays Center, and is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays until 5 p.m., through March 31st (smorgasburg.com)
