flea at laff #6: porchetta/brooklyn soda works.

snack: porchetta sandwich
drink: grapefruit, jalapeno & honey soda

it's official. the summer's here. i know so not because of that solstice thing that happened back on monday but because of something i noticed at the brooklyn flea this past saturday, that definitive, annual sign that the summer has arrived...there are hottie-type ladies out EVERYWHERE!...like ALL OVER DA PLACE! i don't know where they've been hiding all winter & at this point, i don't really care. it's pretty much my favoritest time of the year, the time when sweaters & long sleeves & stupid stupid UGGS give way to skin & sundresses & tank tops. ladies...thank you for looking so undeniably fetching this past weekend. i appreciate it. when i met my bro there in the early afternoon, there you were in all your glory...the beautiful, sundress-clad women of the BK. on the outside, i tried not to stare too much, but on the inside, i was all like "DAY-YAM! SWEET TATS YO!"

while the ladies were surely lovely this past weekend, things haven't been all that lovely for DIY food vendors recently. along with the food trucks' fight against city hall, last week we learned that the greenpoint food market was shutting down because many vendors weren't up to snuff with city regulations, among them the one that says all food must be prepared in a commercial kitchen. going into saturday, i was wondering what effect this would have on the brooklyn flea's food vendors. from what i could tell, it had some. i noticed that a few vendors were absent this week & while i can't be certain that it's because of the city's crackdown, i did notice that pizza moto & their mobile brick oven pizza oven were not in attendance.

...but back to the exquisite female folk! there were so many of them out this past weekend! my female friends seem to think that the flea-going dudes are kinda meh, but based on the flea-going ladies, it might make sense to change the brooklyn flea market to "the brooklyn meat market." just sayin' is all. with that in mind, i chose a pork sandwich from porchetta as my saturday snack. porchetta's a tiny shop in the east village that's known for, um...porchetta. it's an italian dish that their website describes as "roasted pork with crispy skin, highly seasoned with aromatic herbs and spices, garlic, sage, rosemary and wild fennel pollen." at the physical locale, the menu is basically all about the porchetta, available in sandwich form ($10) or as a plate ($14). other than that, you can get "crispy potatoes" & stuff, but what's the point really? if you're there it should be for the pork.

as you can see from the above photo, that $5 porchetta sandwich is TINY, about the size of a clenched teenage fist. my brother & i got one a piece & when we finished, we both agreed that while they're good, you probably need at least two or three of them to quell any hunger you might have. what's there is tasty though. you get a bun filled with shreds of spiced, flavorful, roasted pork that's just moist enough. since there's nothing more carnivorously pleasing than a salty piece of animal skin, the best part about the diminutive sandwich was when i bit into that awesomely salty chunk of pork skin you can see on the left-hand side of it. too bad the sandwich itself was so small that it only satisfied my stomach for about an hour or two.

there wasn't anything all that exciting to drink at the porchetta booth, so for my drink i went next door to the brooklyn soda works booth, where i chose the grapefruit, jalapeno & honey soda over the rhubarb & thai basil one and the lemon & ginger one. according to the folks working the booth (who i've since learned are caroline mak & antonio ramos, the two founders of the company), they change their sodas every two weeks, which means maybe one of these summer weeks i'll get to try the beverage that proves you can carbonate anything--their maple syrup bacon soda. they started up back in february & their story is so 2010. if you're familiar with the fundraising site kickstarter, brooklyn soda works recently used the site to raise $2,849 from 75 backers, allowing the newly-formed beverage company to purchase all the stuff that allows them to make their soda & serve it to the flea-going public.

at $5.25 for a 16 oz cup, it's a wee bit pricey, but you're paying for quality artisanal soda made by seemingly hip brooklynites. i'll say this for it: on a very basic level, it tastes like a fresh, less-chemical filled pink grapefruit fresca. if you're into carbonated citrus like me, you'll totally like it. as for the jalapeno & honey flavors, maybe my taste buds were overrun with pork or still hungover, but i didn't really notice either of them. regardless, it's a refreshing beverage (a rare feat for a soda) & i'll definitely be trying their other sodas. if i can't get my hands on that maple bacon soda soon though, it's going to be a cruel, cruel summer.