Food at the Flea

After over a month of waiting, the Hester Flea finally opened yesterday!  Raychel and I headed to Hester and Essex to check it out since the weather was so beautiful.  Raychel walked away with tons of loot (necklace, vase, earrings, ring), and I found some unique pottery.  Of course, I was primarily concerned with scoping out the food, and the vendors did not disappoint.

I love scoring a deal and finding my own personal treasure amidst piles of random artifacts (my 3 small clay bowls were only $15!).  I tend to take the same approach to food.  While I did not enjoy pushing my way through the [seemingly] millions of people and booths stuffed into a much-too-small area of a park, the food I consumed made up for it.  The food vendors were local and upscale.  I went intent on trying the lobster rolls from Luke's Lobster since they seem to have become practically world famous.  However, after seeing the line, I decided I could always go to their brick and mortar outpost at a later date and set my sights elsewhere.  It didn't take long to find the new object of my affection, an omelet station.  I never would have expected to find hipsters serving up made-to-order gourmet omelets at a flea market; but there they were, crammed between racks of vintage dresses and tables of costume jewelry.  There were 4 veggie-packed options (to which your choice of 3 cheeses is added), but for only $2 more (total: $10), I decided to go for The Full Monty with goat cheese, which included everything (kale, wild mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, and spiced cauliflower).  It was huge and more than satisfying.

I had to finish the meal with something sweet, so I grabbed a popsicle from the La Newyorkina stand.  They were all out of the Raspberry Hibiscus I wanted to try, and I wasn't feeling adventurous enough for the Avocado, so I went with Coconut.  It was so refreshing and clearly made with high quality ingredients.  The only part I didn't like was the chunks of coconut meat at the bottom - I'd rather slurp, not chew when I eat a popsicle, but to each his own.

I'll definitely head back to the Hester flea soon so I can give the other food vendors a chance and hopefully get lucky in the jewelry/housewares department.  My words of advice to future Hester Flea Marketers: go early.  It opens at noon, but by the time we left at 2:30, much of the vendors' stock had been depleted.  Good news for them, not so much for the shoppers.