Brooklyn Heights/ DUMBO

Martha! Martha! Martha!

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Martha with her niece Sophie Herbert, and her French bulldog Francesca. Photos by Mark S. Bernal.

Martha Stewart was all up in the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO on this gorgeous Sunday, tasting some goodies and generally causing a big commotion with her camera crew, entourage and French bulldogs in tow. But what brought the queen of home craftiness into the county of Kings?

Turns out she’s doing a whole hour on Brooklyn, which may also include her stops at Marlow and SonsMarlow and Daughters, a rooftop garden and some of the different food factories. Her posse said the show (doubly titled Martha: The Martha Stewart Show) is supposed to air Nov. 10, though it’s subject to change. “We love Brooklyn,” she gushed to us (but only because we stalked her all afternoon) after sampling the wares from a handful of vendors. So which ones will make the TV cut?

Martha wouldn’t say, but her schedule offered a few clues. She showed up at 1:40 p.m. with a Brooklyn Map tote in hand and her two dogs, the French bulldogs Sharkey and Francesca, along with her niece, Sophie Herbert (who lives in Brooklyn). After interviewing flea organizers Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler (below, rocking his Brownstoner sweatshirt), she headed over to  Salvatore Bklyn to sample some ricotta and prosciutto sandwiches.

Flea founders Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler have Martha and her niece Sophie Hubert in stitches.
Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler regale Martha and her niece Sophie Herbert.

Owner Betsy Mark Devine said Stewart called the food “delicious” but didn’t say much else. Stewart then made the rounds to McClure’s Pickles, Rick’s Picks, Fine and Raw Chocolates, Pizza Moto (which smelled tortuously delicious to your humble penniless blogger and photographer), Red Hook Lobster Pound, Red Hook Food Vendors, Asia Dog, People’s Pops, the Flea Design Coop and Blue Marble Ice Cream.

At Asia Dog, Stewart tried the Mel and Steve, an Asian sesame slaw concoction, while Sophie had the Ginny, a kimchi dog with seaweed flakes. Martha refused to play favorites. “It would be very cruel for me to judge,” she said. “We ate everything.”

Martha makes a stir.
Martha and Sophie are eyed by a suitor.

There was only a tiny bit of heckling from the crowd, with the words “fucking ridiculous” uttered several times by a disgruntled bystander observing her large entourage and associated gawkers in front of Asia Dog. But most of the crowd was a sea of snapping digital cameras and iPhones. “She did time,” said an admirer. “She’s got street cred.”

As it happens, Stewart also has a bit of Brokelyn cred. “I’m a very frugal person—I love Costco,” she confessed. Really? The woman whose web site recently polled readers: Which of Martha Stewart’s homes would you most like to visit? (Skylands obvs.)

When pressed on her skinflinty ways, she revealed that she frequently wears hand-me-downs. “I don’t have very many clothes,” she told us. “And I wear clothes for years and years and years. I’ve had these boots for eight years.” Guess who’s invited to our next clothing swap!

Martha and crew. Photos by Mark S. Bernal.
The cameras roll...

15 Comments

  1. That girl

    My friend couldn’t buy a cupcake when Martha was there because the cupcake vendor didn’t want to run out before Martha came by.

    THANKS FOR NOTHING MARTHA.

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