LIC Flea and Food

If you’re looking for something fun to do one summer weekend, check out the newly opened LIC Flea & Food, not far from Vernon Boulevard and 46th Avenue in Long Island City. It’s easy to get to by subway and it’s open every weekend this summer from 10am-6pm. It feels more like an enclosed street fair than a flea market, and the food vendors take up at least half of the tents. You can find everything from gluten-free cookies and artisanal ice cream to local pizza and smokehouse barbecue.  There was a stand selling bibingka, “a new twist to the traditional Filipino dessert,” and one with a variety of pickles. There were two food vendors that I found were fun and different.

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The first was Ice Riders — shaved ice created in an environmentally friendly way. Shaved ice cones are Hawaiian-style snow cones with a finer shave than traditional snow cones. The Ice Riders create this finer shave by a bike-powered machine.  The ice is then flavored with a syrup of your choice or a combination, including blue raspberry, green apple, and Southern style sweet tea.

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The second was TornatoUSA, a spiral potato snack. A potato, or another vegetable is put on a stick and inserted into a machine that cuts it into a spiral. The potato is then dipped in a batter and deep fried. Tornato offers a wide variety of spices and sauces that are served with the spiral snack.

Different vendors may come on different weekends, so you never know what culinary surprise you may find.