Smorgasburg Brings 30 Food Vendors to The Shed at Hudson Yards This Summer

Smorgasburg is serving up 30 food vendors from across the globe at The Shed at Hudson Yards this summer, starting next week.

Vendors will take over the multimedia art venue on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 6pm — a flavorsome assortment of 20 in total per day. The food vendor pop-up takes its name from Smorgasbord, a Swedish word for a buffet, and Williamsburg — the neighborhood where the first Smorgasburg took place.

Hell’s Kitchen locals have eight weeks to taste the vendors’ delicacies, from July 3 to August 22, during which time The Shed will fully open its retractable roof to offer a truly cool experience.

The participating vendors are all established with the company, Smorgasburg co-founder Eric Demby told W42ST. The vast majority are “what you would call pop-up vendors,” he said, although “some of them graduate to having their own brick and mortar shop and keep their stall.”

The offerings range in cuisine and cultural tradition from “reimagined Iranian inspired desserts” at BiBi Bakery, to Afro-Puerto Rican vegan cuisine and Wah Gwaan’s Jamaican tacos, according to an announcement. Some vendors, like Red Hook Lobster Pound and Oyster Party, have had a presence at Smorgasburg since its debut in 2011.

“For a new small business in New York, [Smorgasburg is] cutting out the required access to a huge amount of capital to open a brick and mortar space,” Demby said. “You buy some equipment, usually less than $10,000 [and] you start making money instantly.”

While all the vendor spots are taken for this first run, vendors in the area can always reach out, Demby added, “because things have a tendency to change and evolve once we open a location.” An application is available on the website (click on “sell” to access it).

Smorgasburg will coincide with The Shed’s Summer Sway series, which explores the history of hip-hop through free DJ sets and dance parties. It will feature break dancing — an official sport in the Paris Summer Olympics for the first time this year.

“We always love meeting new people, [and] giving people a chance to get a taste of something that maybe isn’t super convenient to drive or take the subway to on the weekends,” said Demby.

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