kolaches and fleas.

sign leading into the Artists and Fleas market that we “accidentally” found.

Sometimes I think my husband sets out to see how many places we can patronize in a single day as his sole motivation for taking me on his goose-chases. Saturday we agreed to go to Smorgasburg for their ice cream celebration. Then the morning of he suggested we go to Brooklyn Kolache. I agreed. If you’ve never had a Kolache, it’s generally some type of filling baked inside an amazing roll that tastes chewy and sweet and savory and perfect. Or at least it is if you go to Brooklyn Kolache Co. The big hoopla that got us there was that they sell tacos. The nearly complete lack of decent tacos in New York will drive any Texan far and wide in search of them.

We’ve ventured out more than a few times in our search and unfortunately these were not that amazing. The tortillas weren’t waxy and the fillings weren’t awful but they also weren’t something that I’d dream of especially when the kolaches were so amazing. We ordered a bunch of stuff to get a good idea of their menu: hash brown, egg & cheese taco, chorizo, egg & cheese taco, cherry kolache, sausage kolache and then we went back for another of the sausage kolache and tried the cherry and cream kolache. They were huge and buttery and tasted like clouds of deliciousness. Husband’s been telling me to start selling my own tacos with homemade tortillas and become the New York Queen of Tacos. Dreams for another day.

lonestar empire brisket sandwich.

Since our entire plan for the day was to go to a food festival: Smorgasburg and we already had a huge breakfast we figured we should walk it off at the Brooklyn Flea which wasn’t too far away. The flea always yields something amazing. I found a woman and her teeny tiny daughter selling homemade headbands and hair clips which were so adorable I had to buy one. I regret not buying the unicorn horn they were selling but that’s what Etsy is for. And although our plan was to abstain from food at the flea somehow Paul found himself with a Lonestar Empire brisket sandwich.

there was a live DJ at the Artists & Fleas market.

Paul wanted to take a different route to the waterfront from our normal walk. He suggested it out of the blue for no reason at all until we randomly came upon another market. I’m sure this was a carefully crafted accident on his part. The Artists and Fleas was inside a large open space. Every nice of that space was filled with vendors and their wares. It was a super eclectic collection of vendors selling bed sheet t-shirts, glass jewelry, vintage purses, dresses, plants and pretty much anything else you can imagine. And of course they had a live DJ spinning because why not have a live DJ at a market in the middle of the day in Brooklyn. Clearly this is the obvious decision.

vegan ice cream.

As we left A&F Paul bought a pineapple pop which I quickly commandeered. It was literally a slice of pineapple on a stick that was dipped in chocolate then frozen. What a treat. Smorgasburg wasn’t too far away and we got there I almost couldn’t imagine eating anything else. Although when you think about it I hadn’t had too much yet.

Smorgasburg was kind of a blur. There were lots of ice creams. I loved a vegan chocolate one but couldn’t finish my scoop. I gave in and got a donut from dough because when they are near me I feel like an addict that needs a hit. They were out of my standard plain so I got the cinnamon sugar which apparently meant I was wearing cinnamon sugar all over my face and up my nose. awesome. I also got a noodle bowl which was too spicy so I only tasted it and then gave up. We stood in the ATM line at one point replenishing our pockets and at some point when I wasn’t looking Paul found La Newyorkina and her amazing paletas which he’s had before. She gave him two stamps on a rewards card because he’d been to the other location but didn’t’ have a rewards card yet. We enjoyed the waterfront with about 1 million other people on saturday. I wanted a nap so badly at this point in the day.

hipsters can’t read. (husband snapped this photo)

grand central.

I’m sure you are thinking, “wow Clarissa, what a long day.” But wait, it isn’t yet over. After a short L train to Union Square we went to Best Buy where they too had a DJ. I don’t remember what we were looking for but it was some kind of electronic thingamajig. Then why not go to Nordstrom Rack. And somehow we also ended up at Barnes & Noble where something was bought and Forbidden Planet where a crew was filming Batman things for an episode of 48 Hours. I was nosy and asked the camera guys. Also, it was nearly their last day before they move down the block to a much “bigger and cleaner space with air conditioning” according to the guy at the door. I was tired at this point so we started for home. Just a quick stop at Grand Central for our connecting train and the Apple Store where we came out with a new iPad for my husband. He was giddy which made me happy.

Finally it was time to go home… after stopping at John Brown Smokehouse in their new and larger location. More on that later this week.

john brown smokehouse.

I got up at 7 the next morning to meet a friend for a girls day. I need to sleep in more.

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