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The Queens Night Market teased what’s to come at this year’s night market during a food preview event at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan last Thursday.
The event showcased 11 new vendors added to this year’s roundup, who presented samples of some of their dishes for guests to taste.
Vendors represented cuisines from a variety of countries — a central pillar of the Queens Night Market’s claim to fame since its inception in 2015.
Cuisines featured at the preview event ranged from countries including Vietnam, India, the Dominican Republic, Panama and many more.
Guests were served small, bite-sized dishes of foods including potato knishes with spicy mustard, sweet lokshen kugel, beshbarmak, bone marrow, bánh khọt, quipes, orejitas fritas, aloo chaat, vada pav, chana jor garam, masala sticks and silog.
Cocktails were also served during the event, bringing an extra flair to the event with drinks such as pisco punch, a coconut cooler and — for the more adventurous — a dirty pickle martini.
A vendor serves cocktails including pisco punch, a coconut cooler and a dirty pickle martini. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Ginela Smith-Carrera and Galo Carrera, a married couple who founded G&G Cuisine LLC, attended the event and served Panamanian dishes including hojaldre con salchica, chicheme and a crowd favorite, carimañolas.
Ginela said she loves cooking and originally intended for their food truck, Casa Carimañolas y Más, to serve items like rice, beans and chicken.
“I love the kitchen,” she said. “But I actually had to go back to Panama and take classes because I saw the demand was for fried food.”
For example, carimañolas are made of fried dough of mashed cassava, also called yuca, that is stuffed with a savory filling.
Galo, on the other hand, said he began learning to make carimañolas after visiting Panama in 2019. He recalled bringing back a suitcase full of the stuffed pastries that he bought at a supermarket.
“My wife finally realized I should learn how to make them,” he said, laughing. “It’s our best seller.”
Carimañolas, which are made of fried dough of mashed cassava (yuca) and stuffed with a savory filling, were served by Ginela Smith-Carrera and Galo Carrera, a married couple who founded G&G Cuisine LLC. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Gracia Clery-Leonce, founder of Bevo’s Kitchen, served Caribbean cuisine at the preview event, including bread pudding, rice, green banana salad and a traditional St. Lucian drink called lime squash, which is a refreshing, sweet-tart Caribbean beverage.
But here’s the kicker — all the foods the vendor serves are vegan.
“I’m in the science field, and I’ve come to realize that a lot of the illnesses we suffer from are because of our lifestyle,” Clery-Leonce said. “So, I started my own business trying to make foods that will help build the immune system instead of deteriorating it.”
Clery-Leonce emphasized that despite the fact that it’s vegan, it’s all cooked in traditional Caribbean-style, and she encouraged people to give it a try because they may be surprised.
“When you find the right vegan person who can really cook good vegan food, you wouldn’t know you’re not eating meat,” she said. “It’s about the spices, the vegetables and using healthy things as a substitute. No chemicals or preservatives — just all natural.”
Cherry banana bread pudding served by Bevo’s Kitchen, a Caribbean restaurant that features vegan dishes. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Isaac and Samantha Onuorah, who are also married, co-founded Soronko Kitchen and Bakery, blending Nigerian and Ghanaian cuisine. They served West African meat pies, moin-moin and beverages that included hibiscus tea and pineapple ginger juice at the preview event.
Isaac grew up in Nigeria, and Samantha, who has a culinary background and works as a chef, grew up in Ghana.
When the couple bought their home in Suffolk County in 2020, he said they noticed there was a lack of African-inspired restaurants, which is why they decided to bring their culinary expertise to a business of their own.
“Luckily, we got a good response, and it’s been off to the races since then,” Isaac said. “Word of mouth just spread like wildfire.”
He said the Queens Night Market team reached out to Isaac and Samantha because many of Soronko’s customers are from Queens.
The kitchen combines both Nigerian and Ghanaian influences, which Isaac said are largely the same in terms of cuisine.
Well, almost. He pointed out that Jollof rice remains a point of contention in the two cultures and it is often debated whether it should be cooked with jasmine rice or long-grain rice.
Isaac pleaded the fifth when asked which one he preferred, joking that he wanted to keep the peace in his marriage.
Soronko Kitchen and Bakery served meat pies with beef, chicken and vegetable fillings. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
The Queens Night Market was founded by John Wang in 2015 after he experienced a period of unemployment and began struggling to afford basic costs in New York City. As rising costs impacted communities across the city, Wang began thinking of ways to improve it.
He realized that aside from Los Angeles, the United States didn’t have a proper night market like many other countries across the world, including his home country of Taiwan.
Wang decided to implement price caps on dishes, ensuring that attendees did not pay more than $5 for a dish from any vendor. Today, that price cap remains steady at $6 per dish.
“I think every other headline I read in New York City is about affordability,” Wang said. “Queen Night Market was always built on the idea of what the community can afford. It’s nice that we’re more relevant than ever because of our price cap.”
Over the past 11 years the night market has been hosted, it has welcomed vendors representing over 100 different countries’ cuisines.
Queens — often referred to as “The World’s Borough” — is the most diverse county in the world, which is something Wang said he made a deliberate effort to highlight at the night market.
“The ideal scenario is that five or ten years down the road, we will have had a vendor from every country represented in New York City,” Wang said. “New York City is so powerful, fun, exciting and enriching because of everyone’s backgrounds here.”
Bánh khọt. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Orejitas fritas. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Aloo chaat, vada pav and chana jor garam. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Potato knishes with spicy mustard. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo
Silog. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo