New Flea is 75% Food Truck Jamboree, 25% Swap Meet

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On Sunday, Union Station was packed with crowds flocking to treats from a flotilla of food trucks, including Komodo, Border Grill, Gourmet Genie, The Munchie Machine, and Crepes Bonaparte?and a few people who came along for the shopping at the inaugural Truckit Fest, the first of what's supposed to be a monthly thing.

If there's any wonder about the pecking order, it's the food that gets the top billing, and the retail felt like an afterthought. The vibe was more like a small craftsperson market than a true flea market. There were some standouts like beautiful handmade leather journals from The Journal Guy, simple earrings from Roya de Rose and some cute vintage from Around the City Vintage. Hiding out amongst the trucks was the well-done Le Fashion Truck: a mobile vintage store/boudoir that feels like your personal closet on wheels.

Overall it wasn't that the other vendors were bad: just that there weren't enough of them, and perhaps we were missing the Flea Market awesomeness of the Melrose Fairfax Market and the Rose Bowl. Union Station is such an amazing location and so beautiful to spend time in, so we have high hopes that the selection will grow and improve. If nothing else, the view of the subway in the distance and the Chinatown and Olivera crowds we waded through to get there, served as a great reminder about how exciting, vibrant and diverse Los Angeles is. (Text and photos by Lizz Wasserman)
· Truckit Fest [Official Site]