Smorgasburg Makes Its Way To Miami This March

Popular food market Smorgasburg is making its way to Miami’s ever-evolving Wynwood neighborhood. The largest open air food market in America already has locations in New York and Los Angeles.

A play “smorgasbord” meaning a wide array of foods in Swedish and the market’s first location in Williamsburg, Smorgasburg is often referred to as the Woodstock of eating. The outdoor food hall made its debut in 2011 and 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. 

The market is also known for serving as an affordable starting point for food vendors who are looking to test out their concepts for a large audience without the overhead and risk of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Smorgasburg is a go to spot for creative, often groundbreaking food and drink,  that found so much success in New York it was able to expand to Los Angeles in 2016, followed by satellite locations in Jersey City and Lower Manhattan, and annual pop ups in Sao Paulo and Japan, making it a beloved concept around the world.

And just who is bringing the concept to Miami? It’s Gaston Becherano Cohen, owner of Omotenashi Group, a collection of hospitality driven enterprises that includes Aventura Gardens Market, Bonsai Café, and Motorcycle Matcha. He became part of the Smorgaburg family 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. 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 adjacent to the Wynwood Walls, in a 50,000 square-foot park-like setting. It will be home to 60 food vendors and about 10 interesting retail vendors. Visitors will enter Smorgasburg on either NW Second Avenue or 26th Street where vendors will be positioned around the perimeter of the space with central seating consisting of different colored picnic tables. 

The bar area will have its own seating and be located on the South West corner of the market. Becherano’s philosophy of By Miami, For Miami, is leading the way as the bulk of the vendors will be local with a few concepts that hatched in Brooklyn and L.A. making an appearance.

Becherano Cohen has been searching for vendors for the last year and has discovered quite a few concepts that will surprise and delight visitors.

Some of the confirmed vendors visitors can expect to see include:

Those culinary concepts that are interested in being part of Smorgasburg can submit an application here as the market gears up for its March opening.

Smorgasburg Miami will be located at 2612 NW Second Avenue in Wynwood and will open in March 2022. For more updates follow Smorgasburg Miami on Instagram at @SmorgasburgMiami.