Ivan Orkin’s Ramen Benefit at Smorgasburg

Ivan Orkin (left) at Smorgasburg, with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

Today, noodle master Ivan Orkin joined Sun Noodles’s Shigetoshi Nakamura for a one-day-only pop-up at the Smorgasburg outdoor prepared-food market on North 6th Street by the Williamsburg waterfront. The event was a benefit for storm victims, with proceeds from the sale of the $10 cups of noodles going to the Brooklyn Recovery Fund.

The depth of flavor coaxed out of the slightly salty, slightly fishy, slightly gluey broth was not to be missed.

It was a cloudy and foggy day with a slight chill in the air, and the toasted whole wheat noodles with a hybrid shoyu-tonsoku (soy sauce/pig foot) broth really hit the spot. Every cup also sported a thick slice of braised pork belly that melted in your mouth, and a sprinkling of chopped scallions that held the prospect of future springtimes.

With a handful of eager assistants, Ivan and Naka served up the noodles themselves, and a serpentine line of supplicants made its way between the other Smorgasburg booths. The wait for noodles ran from 15 minutes to a half-hour, and the booth will continue serving until 6 this evening. So get over there!

The toasted whole wheat noodles

The line twisted though the market under leaden skies.

Hard at work on the noodles, Naka on the right

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