P&H Soda and Syrup » Markets of New York

Fabulous Food and Crafts at the Brooklyn Lyceum

On May 1st and 2nd, the Brooklyn Lyceum was host to the wonderful Spring Food and Crafts Market. I went to the Lyceum’s Holiday Market in December, and I bought loads of gifts. The manuscript for the guidebook had already been submitted, but I called my editor at Little Bookroom and asked if there was any way we could make a last minute addition. This market was too good to leave out of the book.

Fortunately, Little Bookroom and our wonderful book designer worked it all out, and the Lyceum Market is indeed featured in the guidebook, which is officially released on May 11. So when the Lyceum invited us to do a pre-publication launch of Markets of New York City at the Spring Market, I was thrilled.

There were over 100 truly talented artisan and food vendors, and likely over a thousand wonderful shoppers. I cannot say enough about the high quality of the handmade goods. It was nice to see vendors meeting their repeat customers who come find them at the various markets around town. And there was a good deal of buzz around the food, which was in abundance, including BaconMarmalade, P&H Soda and Syrup (who kept me going in the heat with icy cream sodas), and the beautiful macarons from Macaron Parlour. I also brought home Niki and Doug’s Ramp Butter, which we have been slathering on pretty much everything this week (everything that wasn’t already slathered with BaconMarmalade, that is).

People were very excited about the guidebook, those who wanted to know where all the great markets are and even those who know all about them already. This was my first experience as a New York market vendor, and I had a great time, although it gave me first-hand experience as to how hard the vendors work every weekend while the rest of us are strolling through the markets munching on cupcakes and Yona’s mini-quiches. On Sunday evening, I went home, put my feet up, and fell sound asleep.

Pre-Publication Book Launch at the Brooklyn Lyceum This Weekend!

I will be at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market with The Little Bookroom this weekend! Please stop by, say hi, and pick up your advance copy of the guidebook!

Many of the wonderful vendors featured in the guidebook and blog are also going to be at the Lyceum, and they are offering awesome special discounts with your book purchase:

•Alison Tauber: $5 off one shirt

•Bacon Marmalade: Discount on Jars or Baked Goods

•Fine and Raw Chocolates: Chunky Bonbon 2 for $10 (regular price $7 each)

•KnitKnit Knits: 10% off one item

•Lovely Day Designs/LuCrafts: 20% on total purchase

•McFlashpants : 10% discount on total purchase

•Meow Meow Tweet: $1.00 off total purchase

•Miss Wit Tees for Good Times: 15% on total purchase

•Nordea Soaperie: Free 1.5 oz Body Polish with $45 total purchase

•Off the Mat: 20% discount on total purchase

•Pumpkin and Honey Bunny/P&H Soda and Syrup Inc.: $.50 off purchase of sodas and greeting cards

•Rocks and Salt Design: 10% discount on hats

•Sour Puss Pickles: $1.50 off a jar of Green Tomato Relish

•Take Me Homeware: 20% discount on total purchase

•Virginia Kraljevic Illustrations and Cards: 20% discount on total purchase

•Yona’s Gourmet Delights: $1.00 off your purchase of any two combos

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.