Celebrate the Everyday Places of NYC from Bike Shops to Bodegas
In the new book, The Cities We Need, a photographer and urbanist share images and stories from overlooked but vital city spaces!
The new DeKalb Market Hall at City Point in Downtown Brooklyn, which has replaced the previous open-air shipping container marketplace that operated starting in 2011, is nothing short of a foodie paradise. Opening this morning at 11 AM, it’s impeccably curated with vendors ranging from Katz’s Deli (with its first outpost out of the Lower East Side) to the Fulton Landing Seafood Company, DeKalb Market Hall clearly puts a spotlight on Brooklyn cuisine with local purveyors like Brooklyn Juicer, Ample Hills Ice Cream (from Gowanus), Bunsmith (from Crown Heights), Steve’s Key Lime Pie (from Red Hook), BK Jani (from Bushwick), Likkle More jerk chicken, and DeKalb Kitchen.
For the aesthetes among us, DeKalb Market is not like your regular food court. Each stand is designed in the brand and style of the vendor. So Pop Cake Shop feels like a edgy grown up kids paradise with a hand drawn storefront look, Katz’s Deli looks like a miniature version of its flagship location with neon lighting and old-school letters, Steve’s Key Lime Pies operates out of a tiki-style wooden shack, Forcella pizza has tiled oven, and you can bet white tiling abounds throughout.
There’s also a great offering of foreign and foreign-inspired cuisine. These includes Eight Turn Crepe, which makes Japanese-style sweet and savory crepes from rice flour feels like a little stand in Tokyo, Kotti Berliner Döner Kebab, Jianbing Company serving Shanghai style street food, Café d’Avignon serving French pastries and French fare, Pierogi Boys, Daigo Hand Roll Bar which serves sushi at a classic Japanese sushi counter. The Paella Shack was carving prosciutto directly off a dry-cured pig.
Besides Katz’s, you’ll find other New York classics like bagels at Andrew’s Classic Bklyn Bagels, coffee at Noble Tree Coffee, bbq at Fletcher’s, fries at Home Frite, and a full bar and restaurant at Fontina’s. There’s a butcher shop and cheese shop, and you can even watch donuts get rolled and fried up close and personal at Cuzin’s Duzin.
One of the best spots we tried, a little off the main “avenue” in the hall, was Forager’s, a rotisserie chicken spot making delectable chicken sliders with pickedl red onion, fennel and mixed herbs of parsley, dill and chives.
Yesterday, the space opened for a preview and opening party – unlimited food and drinks from all the vendors, including those like Han Dynasty, which haven’t moved into their stalls yet. DeKalb Market is billing itself as the “Best Spot in Town,” and it certainly offers a whole new dimension to Downtown Brooklyn. When Trader Joe’s opens shortly (accessible also from DeKalb Market Hall), this destination will get even more bustling.
Below are a few more photographs of the space. Check out DeKalb Market Hall, which opens at 11 AM today!
Pastries at Cafe d’Avignon
Strawberry banana crepe from Eight Turn Crepe
Inside Fontina’s
Churros at Dulcinea
Prosciutto Carving at The Paella Shack
Next, check out the Top 10 Secrets of Brooklyn Heights.
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