Smorgasburg, the largest open-air food market in America with locations in New York and Los Angeles, is launching in Miami in the heart of Wynwood at 2612 NW Second Avenue in March 2022. A play on the Swedish “smorgasbord” meaning a wide array of foods, and the location for the market’s debut in Williamsburg, upon opening in 2011, Smorgasburg instantly became a popular destination for New Yorkers regularly drawing upwards of 10,000-weekend visitors in search of a great afternoon of eating, drinking and meeting up with friends. At the same time, the market served as an affordable starting point for food vendors wanting to test out their concepts for a large audience without the overhead and risk of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Known as the place to go for creative, often groundbreaking food and drink, the concept’s Williamsburg success led to a Los Angeles expansion in 2016, satellite locations in Jersey City and Lower Manhattan, and annual pop-ups in Sao Paulo and Japan, making Smorgasburg a global phenomenon.
Gaston Becherano Cohen, the owner of Omotenashi Group, a collection of hospitality-driven enterprises that includes Aventura Gardens Market, Bonsai Café, and Motorcycle Matcha, is the man bringing Smorgasburg to Miami. His first exposure to the concept was as a vendor in New York, where he launched the first iteration of Bonsai, selling kakigori — hand-cranked Japanese shaved ice. The popularity he experienced with Bonsai at Smorgasburg paved the way for a brick-and-mortar restaurant on the Lower East Side; and that’s the type of opportunity he’s interested in extending to Miami’s culinary community. Born in Mexico and raised in Miami, he’s spent the past few years getting to know the community and believes the time is ripe for Smorgasburg Miami.
According to Becherano Cohen, “Over the past couple of years, the culinary scene of Miami has evolved at a breakneck pace. There are dozens of new underground food concepts in Miami that are top-class. We are bringing Smorgasburg to Miami to provide the right spotlight and conditions for these vendors to flourish and grow and to build a market that represents the talent and diversity of the South Florida food scene. At its core, Smorgasburg allows vendors to launch their own successful food concept without having to take the risk and undergo the headaches associated with opening up a brick and mortar.”
Smorgasburg Miami will be open on Saturdays from 11AM to 6PM and will occupy prime real estate in the epicenter of Wynwood — adjacent to the Wynwood Walls, the 50,000 square-foot park-like settings will ultimately host 60 food vendors and about 10 interesting retail vendors. Visitors will enter Smorgasburg on either NW Second Avenue or 26th Street: vendors will be positioned around the perimeter of the space with central seating comprised of different colored picnic tables. The bar area will have its own seating and be located on the South West corner of the market. Representative of Becherano’s philosophy of By Miami, For Miami, the bulk of the vendors will be local with a smattering of some beloved concepts that were hatched in Brooklyn and L.A. Some of the confirmed vendor's visitors can expect to see include:
Becherano Cohen has been searching for vendors for the past year and has discovered quite a few concepts that will surprise and delight visitors. Now is the time for local culinary talent interested in being part of Smorgasburg to submit an application here as the market gears up for its March opening — in New York and Los Angeles, thousands of applications from vendors cognizant of the path to success are submitted every year for just a handful of vacancies.
For more information please visit, www.smorgasburgmiami.com.
Follow Smorgasburg Miami on social media:
Instagram: @SmorgasburgMiami
Twitter: @SmorgMiami
Facebook: @SmorgasburgMiami
Brustman Carrino Public Relations
(305) 573-0658
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Smorgasburg is the largest weekly open-air food market in America, attracting thousands of people to Brooklyn, Manhattan, Jersey City, and Los Angeles each weekend to eat, drink and purchase goods from local artisans. Founded by Brooklyn-based entrepreneurs Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby, it launched in Williamsburg on May 21, 2011, and has since established dozens of small businesses and attracted millions of visitors. Smorgasburg expanded in June 2016 with a Sunday Market for 70 vendors in downtown Los Angeles that attracts 10,000 people on a weekend. In 2019 a Friday market at The Oculus at the World Trade Center in New York City opened, followed in May 2021 with a weekly Saturday market in Jersey City. Smorgasburg also operates annual pop-ups in Osaka, Japan, and Sao Paulo, Brazil each year. Winter 2022 will see the launch of Smorgasburg Miami, operated by Miami entrepreneur Gaston Becherano Cohen in the heart of Wynwood.
A former Smorgasburg Brooklyn vendor, Gaston Becherano is the passionate 26-year-old entrepreneur and foodie behind Smorgasburg Miami. A graduate of Tufts University who grew up in Miami, he eschewed a finance career and found his calling in the hospitality industry during a solo sojourn in Japan where he discovered kissatens, cozy tea rooms, and cafés sprinkled throughout the country, especially in small towns. Upon returning to the states, he ditched his 9-to-5 gig to devote himself full-time to the hospitality industry, first as a Smorgasburg vendor selling kakigori and then as a brick n’ mortar operator of Bonsai Café, a Japanese -inspired all-day café on New York’s Lower East Side. Upon returning to Miami, he launched, owns, and operates the Aventura Gardens Market in Aventura, Florida, and will open Smorgasburg Miami in the heart of Wynwood in March 2022.
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