Smorgasbar turned Front Street into a lively place to eat and drink during the summer. Photo: Sara Ashley O'Brien
This Sunday marks the bittersweet end of summer for Smorgasbar and its five-month residence in the South Street Seaport. In May, 10 Brooklyn-based food and drink vendors opened in stalls on Front Street in an effort to revive the Sandy-battered area, where many restaurants have yet to reopen.
“We thought it could be like a huge home-run, or we thought it could be kind of like what it was—consistent,” said Eric Demby, co-founder of Brooklyn Flea, who offered selected merchants from the Brooklyn markets a chance to introduce their foods to new customers. "But it wasn’t incredibly profitable for us.”
Smorgasbar was a joint effort with the “See/Change” program of Seaport developer Howard Hughes Corporation, which brought pop-up retail shops, entertainment and food to the area. Along Front Street, visitors could grab a beer at one of the bars and take a seat on long, biergarten-esque tables to feast on an assortment of foods.
Originally intended to offer variety through a rotation of vendors, Smorgasbar ended up with the same 10 merchants throughout the season, with the exception of Rice & Miso, which pulled out in July.
Rice & Miso owner Mika Soleimanpour said that, with a limited staff, the market became a burden.
“We were expecting more tourists to come, even during the weekdays,” Soleimanpour said. “Seven days a week being there was very tough for me, because I do everything by myself—other vendors have many employees.”
Brooklyn Flea has been running weekend markets in Brooklyn since 2008 and now has markets in Fort Greene, Williamsburg and Dumbo. A Washington, D.C., market launched this summer. Some vendors said the Seaport market proved more challenging than others because it was open daily.
“Obviously they’re not going to eat the same thing everyday,” said Asia Dog manager Francyne Granico, speaking of her Wall Street clientele.
Vendors also said that inclement weather at the season’s start—from downpours to heat waves—dampened business, but that See/Change’s summer events helped draw people to Front Street. “It’s up and down and it all depends on the weather. But I think we did it mostly because it’s good for our product, people know our brand,” said Marie Dela Cruz, a partner at Landhaus.
But events throughout the summer as part of See/Change helped draw business to Front Street, some vendors said. “The programming was really good—good movies, good music, and people seemed to generally enjoy it,” said Keith Klein, owner of Milk Truck Grilled Cheese.
Demby says he is in talks with Howard Hughes Corporation about returning in some capacity in the spring. At a recent Community Board 1 meeting, Howard Hughes’s Seaport general manager, Phillip St. Pierre, did not say whether Smorgasbar would be asked to come back but indicated that See/Change will likely return.
“We really think that the program was well-supported by the community, the movie nights were a huge hit,” St. Pierre said. “And we’ve learned a lot over the course of the summer. We think we can deliver an even better product.”