Now that Kansas City is getting comfortable with food trucks, it's time to get even more experimental and appropriate the concept of the food flea market from Brooklyn, New York.
Eater NY covered the opening of Smorgasburg (as did The New York Times) -- the foodie complement to the Brooklyn Flea -- in Brooklyn this past weekend. And with everything from pickles on sticks to salad in a cone, the gathering of craft-food producers seems worthy of imitation.
It's essentially an eating farmers market. Packaged goods sold, too, but a majority of the vendors are there to fill your belly with something made right in front of your eyes. The mechanisms are already in place for a craft-food incubator. You take the model of Forks & Corks or Taste of KC and tweak it slightly -- allowing for anyone with valid food licensing to create a food booth featuring their specialty.
You then group the booths, based on food category, with an appetizer, entree and dessert area, or you leave the set-up to random chance, allowing people to stumble upon the next thing they need to eat. It could be a test market for new restaurants or aspiring restaurateurs and chefs, working on dishes for their menus. It could also serve to unite the home picklers, brewers and pastry wizards who have yet to share their skills beyond family and friends.
If it helps, just think of it as a pop-up state fair because corn dogs -- one of the finest walking foods in the state -- will have to be on the menu in some form.
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