cream soda » Markets of New York

Video of the Week: Macaron Parlour at the Makers Market

I went to the Holiday Sugar Market at the Old American Can Factory Makers Market a couple of weekends ago. You really have to experience the Old Can Factory Markets for yourself because the handcrafted products and food are always high quality, and the location in the old loading dock of this former factory is really something special. I always meet interesting people at this market and find something amazing to take home.

I couldn’t resist the Sugar Market, and I was not disappointed. It was a beautiful event full of amazing food innovators and great designers, sponsored by Petit Paris, wonderful pastry makers that made my day with their amazing Linzer cookies and other sweet treats. Our friends from P&H Soda Co. were there too, pouring delicious, artisanal sodas. Their hibiscus syrup is to die for, and I can’t get enough of their cream soda.

We caught up with Simon Tung of Macaron Parlour too! You may have seen my review of their gorgeous macarons in August. I asked Simon what his French customers think of the S’Mores macaron. Watch this video interview to find out! [By the way, the macaron collection was a huge hit at our dinner party that night, although there were a few tense moments with a bit of snarling over the Salt Caramel one. So we cut it in 5 teensy but satisfying bits, and peace reigned once again over the table.]

This Sunday brings another top notch artisan event at the Old Can Factory: Holiday Ceramics in Brooklyn Market. I have pieces from several of the city’s top ceramicists, and they are wonderful additions to my home. (There’s a phenomenal piece under the tree for someone very special this year, but I can’t tell you what it is!)

Macaron Parlour will be at the Hester Street Fair’s Big Social Market, starting on from December 17 – 23rd. You can also find three gift box collections of their macarons on IndieShop.com!

Pumpkin & Honey Bunny: Handmade Greeting Cards and Fizzy Sodas

Vendors of the Week for the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market!

Erica Rothchild and Anton Nocito are the team behind Pumpkin & Honey Bunny and P&H Soda and Syrup. It sounded like a cute and sweet name to me, and then I learned that the original Pumpkin & Honey Bunny are the robbers in the opening scene of Pulp Fiction. Gives the name a bit of a different twist, wouldn’t you say?

Erica is a graphic designer who makes beautiful hand-printed greeting cards, and Anton makes old-fashioned artisanal sodas. The theme that ties these two pursuits together is a sense of nostalgia for the early 19^th century that lends an Old World feeling to their work. In Erica’s designs, it is her use of vintage images, like a toast rack or a classic jello-mold. Anton aims to bring back the flavors and culture of old-time soda fountains, where people gathered for a chat, a nosh, and phosphate, or a cold soda freshly made from syrup and seltzer.

Erica’s line of greeting cards currently features primarily food-based themes because she began selling them at the Greenpoint Food Market. She uses a Gocco, which is a Japanese tabletop screen printing device. Erica’s Pumpkin & Honey Bunny cards include images of a pretzel (“Tying the Knot”), an old time oyster vendor, and a cherry pink pie (“Sweetie Pie”), among others. She is working on new designs for the Brooklyn Lyceum Spring Market, including Mother’s and Father’s Day cards. You can also find her cards at several shops in Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Kitchen, Tree House, Tiburon, and Word Bookstore.

Anton trained at the French Culinary Institute, and he is the chef at the cafe at the AKA Hotel in Midtown. He launched P&H Soda and Syrup at the Greenpoint Food Market, and he found that he could barely keep up with the demand at last week’s market. I had the cream soda, which was the perfect blend of sweetness, fizzyness, and cream soda flavor. Anton uses natural ingredients, including organic sugar and fair trade ingredients like hibiscus and ginger, as well as sugar alternatives like agave. In addition to the classics like cream soda and ginger lime, he likes to experiment with flavors, including hibiscus, hyssop, and verbena. He is working on a sarsparilla right now. In the summertime, he uses fruits from the farmers market to make new flavors for his syrups.

On one hand, Anton modestly says, “It’s just soda.” On the other hand, P&H Soda & Syrup has a great deal of thought and craft behind it. Personally, I can’t wait for him to open his soda fountain, but in the interim, I’ll be happy to drink his sodas at the Brooklyn Lyceum Market. He is also giving a soda making class on May 20th at the Brooklyn Kitchen.

You can see Erica’s cards on her Pumpkin & Honey Bunny Etsy Shop, and you can keep up with Anton on his blog, P&H Soda and Syrup, Inc. Meet them both at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Food and Craft Market on May 1 & 2 and also at the monthly Greenpoint Food Market.