Food Travel: New American Public Markets To Keep On Your Radar

Philly's Reading Terminal, Baltimore's Lexington Market, the original farmers market of Los Angeles: Just a few of America's iconic indoor public markets and food halls packed with good eats. And lucky us: similar concepts are on the way across the country. Here are five to keep on your culinary radar.

1. Boston Public Market, Boston

This 28,000-square-foot space scheduled to open summer 2015 will boast a bakery, a demonstration kitchen, and scores of farmers, fishers, and other purveyors hawking foods sourced from throughout Massachusetts and New England.

2. James Beard Public Market, Portland, Ore.

Set to open in 2018, this compound in downtown Portland on the Willamette River will feature two market halls with scores of vendors, a teaching kitchen, event venue, and restaurants, all in celebration of Beard, the Oregon-born "dean of American cookery."

3. Bourdain Market, New York City

What exactly this eagerly anticipated food hall will look like remains a mystery, though globe trotting chef-turned-TV star Anthony Bourdain has enlisted the help of KF Seetoh, a prominent expert on Singapore's world-renown street food culture and is actively recruiting Singapore street food vendors. It's expected to open in 2015.

4. Pike Place Market expansion, Seattle

The upcoming MarketFront expansion (expected complete in 2016, one year before the market's 100-year anniversary) will connect the market and downtown Seattle with the waterfront. Additional spaces for vendors will crown a mixed-use project on the market's western side overlooking Elliott Bay and its lumbering ferry boats.

5. Central Food Hall at Ponce City Market, Atlanta

The ATL has redeveloped its historic Sears, Roebuck & Co. building into a mixed-use space that will include Central Food Hall, billed as the South's Best Food Stop. It's set to open in 2015 with a collection of eateries with cuisine from around the globe; food stalls selling fresh bread, meats, cheese, produce, juice, and spices; and gourmet markets. At least three James Beard Award-winning chefs are slated to open casual restuarants: Sean Brock's Minero (Mexican), Anne Quatrano's Dub's Fish Camp (shellfish, sandwiches, and steamed fish bowls), and Linton Hopkin's H&F Burger.

Can't get enough? Bookmark the Project for Public Spaces, which holds International Public Markets Conferences in market-studded cities around the globe (Destination 2015: Barcelona).

#FunFact: Cincinnati alone operated nine public markets at the start of the Civil War. #TheMoreYouKnow