The Incredible Brooklyn Flea Market

October 28, 2009

My television crew and I have been working on an upcoming special about the New York City borough of Brooklyn, with a strong emphasis on the food scene. This past Sunday, we paid a visit to the incredible Brooklyn Flea Market, and once again, my niece, Sophie Herbert, a proud Brooklynite, joined me for the occasion. The Brooklyn Flea takes place every weekend in two locations. On Saturday, it's held in Fort Greene and on Sundays, it's under the Brooklyn Bridge, now called DUMBO. More than 100 vendors gather beneath this most beautiful bridge and it's so much fun to stroll around and to sample all the delicious and varied food.

: This is my film crew setting up for the shoot.

: Mary Curran – my hair and makeup artist and Clair Magruder – my wardrobe stylist visiting with Sharkey

: Delicious prosciutto, arugula, and fresh ricotta open-faced sandwiches at Salvatore Ricotta Bklyn www.salvatorebklyn.com

: Betsy and Rachel, the founders of Salvatore Ricotta – they named their business after a man called Salvatore, whose ricotta they fell in love with in Italy. That’s Gary behind the lens.

: Scrumptious cannoli from Salvatore Ricotta

: Bob and Joe McClure of McClure’s Pickles www.mcclurespickles.com have carried down their great-grandmother Lala’s classic pickle recipe. They make their pickles in Brooklyn and Detroit. We loved the spicy dill pickles!

: Here I am with John Cutti, his wife Sarah, and their adorable son Eli.

: Francesca was captivated by the people strolling on the Brooklyn Bridge walkway overhead.

: Francesca’s point of view of the bridge above

: FINE & RAW’s chocolatier Daniel Sklaar

: Raw, fair trade Ecuadorian cacoa from FINE & RAW Chocolate www.fineandraw.com – Decadent!

: Pickled green beans, okra, peppers, and more at Rick Field’s Rick’s Picks rickspicksnyc.com pickle stand. Rick has been living and pickling in Brooklyn for over 20 years.

: Rick Field of Rick’s Picks

: Gary standing in front of Pizza Moto www.pizzamotobklyn.com – a portable wood oven pizza parlor

: Pizza dough ready to go into the wood burning oven

: The pizza assembly line at Pizza Moto

: The incredible Margherita pizza we savored from Pizza Moto. It’s made with a sourdough starter procured from local apples.

: Here I am with Dave, the founder of Pizza Moto, and his co-worker. Dave, a former architecture student, is also a chef at Brooklyn’s Lunetta.

: Susan Povich of the Red Hook Lobster Pound redhooklobsterpound.com. She and her husband, Ralph Gorham, founded their Maine Lobster business last May.

: A classic Maine lobster roll on the left and a Connecticut roll on the right – served on a buttered roll

: Rafael and Reina Soler, of Red Hook Foods, cook up some of their delicious tamales and pupusas – a traditional food of the Pipil/Mayan people of Cuzcatlan in modern day El Salvador

: The hot pupusas at Red Hook Food Vendors

: Cesar Fuentes of Red Hook Food Vendors told us all about pupusas.

: Delicious tamales and pickled cabbage to go

: Sophie and I shared a rice and bean pupusa – delish!

: Yummy hot dogs at Asia Dog

: Steve Porto and Melanie Campbell of Asia Dog. Both are half-Asian and decided to merge their Asian and American heritages. Their dogs all have Asian inspired toppings.

: David Carrell and Joel Horowitz of People’s Pop. They make splendid all-organic popsicles and ices.

: Joel shaving the ice block

: Crafts by Lotta Jansdotter jansdotter.com

: Fois bois plates, made by Marcie McGoldrick, AVP editorial director Holiday & Crafts MSLO (http://www.marciemcgoldrick.com/) The stationery is made by moontree letterpress

: Former MSLO craft department editor – Laura Normandin’s crafts. Her new line is called Wren Handmade. lauranormandin.com

: Laura Normandin with her handmade craft line

: Blue Marble ice cream cart under the Brooklyn Bridge www.bluemarbleicecream.com

: Maple, vanilla chocolate chip, chocolate, and green tea ice cream from Blue Marble. Yum!!

: The Blue Marble ice cream vendors – Alexis and Jennie. Blue Marble, which has two store fronts in Brooklyn, makes organic ice cream from locally sourced ingredients.