Brooklyn Botanic Garden Celebrates Its Cherry Blossoms with Brooklyn Flea, L'Occitane en Provence, Matsuri, and Lucky Wang!

Designers, chefs and more offer their patrons cherry-blossom inspired delights

PHOTOS: Matsuri restaurant is offering a Sakura cocktail as part of a cherry blossom menu available through May 10 (left); at Brooklyn Flea, Bonbon Oiseau is one of five designers who have created cherry blossom-inspired items as part of the “Sakura Set” (right). (Photos courtesy Bonbon Oiseau and Matsuri).

Brooklyn, NY—April 13, 2009—Brooklyn Botanic Garden's iconic cherry tree collection is a cultural touchstone for people throughout the world; their incredible blossoms are both a source of inspiration and cause for celebration. This year, Brooklyn Flea, L'Occitane skincare, Lucky Wang children's clothier, and Matsuri restaurant in Manhattan's Maritime Hotel are channeling some of that inspiration in a series of cherry blossom-themed cross-promotions to highlight Hanami, the Japanese cultural tradition of viewing and cherishing each moment of the cherry blossom season. At Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Hanami is a New York City “rite of spring” that culminates in Sakura Matsuri, the weekend cherry blossom festival on May 2 and 3.

Brooklyn Flea

For the first time, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is teaming up with the wildly successful Brooklyn Flea in the creation of a limited-edition Sakura Set, rendering the beauty of BBG's blossoms in handcrafted goods sold throughout the Flea. Brooklyn Flea features 150+ vendors of vintage furniture, clothing, collectibles and antiques, as well as new jewelry, art and crafts by local artisans, plus delicious food. For the Sakura Set, five handpicked Flea vendors will offer a special selection of wares commissioned by BBG and created using the Garden's flowering cherries as inspiration. The vendors were selected for their high quality and innovative sensibilities, and each will create something totally original sure to enchant Flea-goers.

The Sakura Set will be available only on Brooklyn Flea's outdoor kickoff day in Fort Greene on Saturday, April 18 and the following Saturday, April 25, for visitors to purchase prior to the Sakura Matsuri cherry blossom festival at BBG on May 2 and 3. The Flea vendors are:

Bonbon Oiseau – jewelry and hair adornments
Kumquat Cupcakery – inventive miniature cupcakes
Kimono Lily – vintage kimono and accessories
Foxy and Winston – letterpress stationery and limited-edition prints
Osborn Design – whimsical fabric squirrels

Eric Demby, cofounder of Brooklyn Flea, noted “The Flea is tickled pink to ‘bloom' in Fort Greene for its second season—and to mark our return by partnering with Brooklyn Botanic Garden!” Photos of the vendors' wares—as well as behind-the-scenes images of the Sakura Collection as it is being created—are available by emailing kateblumm@bbg.org.

From April to December, the Brooklyn Flea takes place every Saturday from 10am to 5pm—rain or shine—at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn , on Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and Vanderbilt Ave. For more information about Brooklyn Flea, visit brownstoner.com/brooklynflea.

Matsuri Restaurant

Located in the chic Maritime Hotel, Matsuri celebrates fresh Japanese food with a changing seasonal menu. Marking its third year honoring BBG's Hanami celebration, Matsuri's executive chef Tadashi Ono has created a new Cherry Blossom Menu. The menu features a Sakura cocktail—a delicate, flavorful elixir made with cherry blossoms and leaves and also includes pink snapper sushi; a main course of madai (sea bream); and for dessert, a sakura panna cotta. Diners at Matsuri will receive a Brooklyn Botanic Garden admission pass for every two elements purchased from the menu, or two passes for every complete prix fixe purchased for $45.

L'Occitane en Provence

L'Occitane en Provence, the renowned beauty and skin care company that takes its inspiration from nature, was keen to use the unmatched beauty of the Garden's spectacular cherry collection to showcase its permanent line of cherry blossom beauty offerings, including fragrance and skin care products.

Visitors to L'Occitane's 17 metropolitan area boutiques will discover, through May 12, a dazzling in-store display that celebrates the Garden's cherry tree collection and the company's cherry blossom products. Several boutiques will also host a drawing for shoppers to win tickets to Sakura Matsuri, the two-day cherry blossom festival on May 2 and 3.

Lucky Wang

This year, BBG is helping outfit our youngest visitors in true sakura style! Through May 11, renowned downtown kids' clothing company Lucky Wang is offering customers who purchase one of two cherry blossom-print kimono tops an admission pass to the Garden! Lucky Wang boutiques are located in Manhattan at 82 7th Avenue (between 15th st. and 16th st.) and 799 Broadway (at 11th st.).