From the people that brings NYC the popular Union Square Holiday Market, Madison Square Eats, and DeKalb Market...
Come check out their newest newest market creation: UrbanSpace Meatpacking. Located in the lot at the corner of Washington Street and 13th Street underneath The High Line and across from The Standard Hotel, UrbanSpace Meatpacking is a food and fashion market featuring popular food vendors and emerging designers/artists. All told, there are over 60 vendors offering up food, clothing, accessories, and more. The UrbanSpace Meatpacking market runs seven days a week through Christmas Eve, with daily hours of 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. (open until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday).
For fellow lovers of food, UrbanSpace Meatpacking offers the unique opportunity to try some of the city's best food vendors, all under one tent:
In order to get to the food, you are going to have to walk through a couple aisles of the fashion and jewelry vendors. It looks like they have some pretty cool stuff, but let's be honest... that's not why we're here.
As you make your way to the rear of the market, you will find the "food court". The High Line, which is a public park built on an old freight rail, provides a nice overhang from the elements for most of the tables.
I'm sure it's pretty cool at night, when the multiple strings of lights illuminates the seating area.
Let's take a look around at the food options. We are going to start with the places I didn't eat anything.
The popular food truck Mexicue, which now has storefronts in Midtown and the LES, features the combined flavors of Mexican cuisine with barbeque goodness. I've eaten at Mexicue a couple times (the food truck and the LES location). Besides the fact that it combines two of my favorite cuisines, the food is really excellent. It's definitely worth a try if you've never had it.
The extremely popular Brooklyn-based Red Hook Lobster Pound serves up some delicious Lobster Rolls. You can find them at their storefront in Brooklyn, at Smorgasburg, Brooklyn Flea and other local food festivals, and at their various food trucks in NYC and Washington D.C. I've never had Red Hook Lobster Pound, but many friends have and they rave about it.
Right next door is the Momofuku Milk Bar, selling their famous crack pie, cookies, and cereal milk ice cream. With various locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, Milk Bar's Chef Christine Tosi just won the 2012 James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef. I've had a lot of the sweet treats at Milk Bar in the past. The crack pie is, well, totally addictive.
Asia Dog serves up Asian-inspired hot dogs, with flavors coming from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and more. They are on my list of places to try, but I never seem to have enough room in my stomach when I come across their pop-up locations through NYC.
The Soft Serve Fruit Company is set up right next door. They serve up gluten-free and dairy-free fruit flavored soft serve.
Wafels and Dinges seem to be at every outdoor market lately. They are a growing empire, with several food trucks and carts throughout the city! I'm a total fan of this place. Those waffles are so good! Totally get the de Throwdown Wafel, which beat Bobby Flay in an episode of Throwdown.
There are several other food vendors at UrbanSpace Meatpacking, including Little Meunster, 4food, Arancini Bros, Brooklyn Soda Works, Steve's Ice Cream, Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, and Sunday Gravy. I'll be sure to try some of their stuff next time I get here. But onto the food I got to enjoy:
Probably the best thing I ate at UrbanSpace Meatpacking were the pizzas served up by Brooklyn's very well-known Roberta's.
They had four pizza options, two of which I tried: the Margherita and the Bee Sting. The pizzas were cooked in this mobile pizza oven:
The Bee Sting Pizza was then finished off with a drizzle of honey by this nice lady...
The Bee Sting Pizza was, without a doubt, one of the best pizzas I've ever had. The crust had the perfect amount of chew, crispiness, and char. The soppressata was delicious and it's spiciness was perfectly balanced by the sweet honey. I've never had honey on pizza before, but after this pizza, I think it needs to happen more often.
Here's another look:
The Margherita Pizza was also really good. But if you are going to get just one pizza, you have, HAVE, to get the Bee Sting!
I was excited to try Mayhem & Stout, a 2012 Vendy Award finalist that serves up create-your-own slow braised sandwiches. They currently only set up shop at various outdoor festivals and markets, but apparently are hoping to set up a permanent location in the near future.
Besides the words "slow braised", which is enough to make me want to try their sandwiches, I was really drawn to the unique homemade sauce and veggie options. I was trying to decide between a couple sauces, and they were nice enough to let me sample each.
I went with the Braised Short Rib & Brisket, with Pickled Vidalia Onion and Blueberry Sriracha.
The meat was amazing. Super rich, moist, and full of flavor. The ratio of bread to meat was perfect (there is nothing worse than a sandwich with too much bread and not enough meat), and the Blueberry Sriracha had the expected spicy kick that cut through the richness of the meat. This was the 2nd most delicious item I ate at UrbanSpace Meatpacking.
Asheley wanted to try an empanada from La Sonrisa. It's the first time I've heard of this place, but apparently they have a food truck and are regulars at various outdoor festivals/markets. They are also hoping to get their empanadas into retail stores soon. That's them on the right:
As is routine with someplace new where we don't know what to order, we asked for their recommendation. They suggested the Coconut Curry Chicken Empanda:
The crust was nice and flaky and was well fried (just look at that golden brown goodness). The filling was good, but I was expecting a bigger punch of flavor from the curry chicken.
Next up was Mighty Balls...
I have to admit, we tried it just because of the clever name.
Well, that, and the Pork Meatball with Jalapeño Jelly Slider. The bun was toasted, which I always appreciate. It just adds that little bit of texture a meatball sandwich needs. The meatball was good and had a nice crust, and the jelly was excellent. I definitely enjoyed this slider, but I think the Spicy Pork Meatball with Parmesan Cream Sauce from The Meatball Shop edges it out.
The food court space also features this gourmet juice and smoothie bar.
I'm not a big juice guy, but they also have a selection of hand-crafted sodas. I tried to Peach, Rosemary, Black Pepper Soda. It was definitely... uhm... interesting and unique. I'm totally a fan of the peach and black pepper, but the rosemary was a little weird. Nonetheless, I finished it, which says something.
I'm a complete sucker for chocolate, so I was instantly drawn into Nunu Chocolates. After a brief conversation with the gentleman manning the booth, I found out they are a Brooklyn-based company and they sell their chocolates in various retail shops throughout the tri-state area, in addition to their store in Brooklyn. He said the best-seller was definitely the salted caramels dipped in chocolate. Sounds good to me!
I'm thinking it's probably because I still have those amazing caramels from Paris still on my mind from July, but these caramels failed to impress in comparison. They are good, but man those Jacques Genin caramels are just so darn good!
So you have a couple months left to get down to UrbanSpace Meatpacking and check out all the awesome food offerings there. Do yourself a favor and take a stroll on The High Line too. It offers some great views and is totally relaxing. Just don't forget to try Roberta's Bee Sting Pizza!
Leave a Reply