New Greenpoint Food Market Launches Saturday

We all know people who are obsessed with making their own jam, pickles, cakes, or kimchi for friends, but it's difficult to break into selling to the public--licenses and access to a commercial kitchen are hard to come by, and expensive.

But the new Greenpoint Food Market, which will launch this Saturday, offers a way to bring homemade concoctions to a larger audience. Because the market is within the church, says founder Joann Kim, it is not subject to the usual regulations. Of the 30 vendors who will be selling their wares on Saturday, about half have never marketed to the public before.

Kim, who is a baker and a writer, says that the idea for the market came to her when she realized that most flea markets were either too focused on goods other than food, or too difficult for beginners to get into. "There wasn't really a flea market that catered solely to food vendors, for people who only cook at home, for family and friends." She wanted to create a venue where amateur cooks could sell their wares, with live music and food-related art. The pastor at Church of Messiah agreed that his church would host it, and Kim sent out an open call for vendors last week.

This Saturday, the market will feature work from four artists and 30 vendors selling everything from kimchi, to boiled peanuts, to scallion pancakes, to jam, to pretzels. Food cannot be cooked on site, but hot food will be sampled out of sterno-heated dishes, and sold in to-go containers. "There's an emphasis on collaborating, networking, sharing--the more the merrier," Kim says. "I want it to be a multi-sensory experience."

Greenpoint Food Market
Every Saturday, 12 p.m.- 6 p.m.
Church of Messiah
129 Russell Street, Brooklyn