Europe's Best New Food Markets

This weekend market has London’s best block-party vibe. Vendors set up on the street and in empty lots under Victorian railway arches. maltby.st.

(From bottom feft)

Hansen & Lydersen
This stall sells phenomenal salmon made from fish that’s been smoked in a brick kiln over juniper and beech.

St. John Bakery Room
The new offshoot of the renowned nose-to-tail restaurant has a small, creative menu plus breads and custard doughnuts.

African Volcano
Grant Hawthorne makes a fiery orange peri peri sauce he calls African Volcano. At his stand, you can buy bottles of the sauce, as well as peri peri–topped burgers.

Little Bird Gin
On weekends, this small-batch gin company transforms an antiques store into a bar mixing bracing Red Snappers (gin-based Bloody Marys). littlebirdgin.com.

The roving collective of street vendors has challenged the lunch status quo by bringing food artisans to public spaces across the city. Avid followers track Kerb’s location via its website, kerbfood.com, hunting for favorites like sandwich specialist Bill or Beak. Founder Petra Barran gravitates toward vendors who are career changers driven by a passionate belief in the power of food.

Besides serving terrific food at Kerb, these three artisans have compelling backgrounds.; (from bottom left)

The Artisan: Matt Harris
While he was driving competitively, trying to get on the Nascar circuit, Harris sampled barbecue across the American South.
The Stall: BBQ Lab
Working out of a repurposed ambulance, Harris cooks pulled pork for 53 hours and barbecue beef ribs for 77.

The Artisan: Mahmoud Sarsak
Sarsak played on Palestine’s national soccer team, then spent three years in jail as a political prisoner.
The Stall: Block B
Sarsak and his wife, Victoria, serve amazing falafel wraps with tangy pickles and tahini.

The Artisan: Lisa Meyer
Meyer was an Oxford history major and a radio producer when she got the Momofuku cookbook as a gift.
The Stall: Yum Bun
Meyer stuffs handmade steamed buns with slow-roasted pork belly or panko-crusted fried fish.

Inside two glass sheds are more than 60 stalls selling everything from organic jams to ornate Danish open-face sandwiches. torvehallernekbh.dk.

Morning
The new-wave porridge stall Grød prepares oatmeal with toppings like dulce de leche as well as a creative take on risotto, sprinkled with tarragon sugar.

Pictured: Grød's Oatmeal with Toasted Walnuts, Strawberries and Skyr

Noon
At the Ma Poule charcuterie counter, the duck confit sandwich is epic: a mound of shredded meat crisped in a giant skillet then piled on a roll with mustard.

Afternoon
Lines are long at the micro-roastery The Coffee Collective, where seasonal beans are hand-brewed on an overworked Japanese Kalita Wave dripper.

Danish hot dogs, Turkish flatbreads, Korean barbecue: The dozen trucks in this harborside warehouse offer a huge array of food. Outdoor tables have the city’s prettiest views. copenhagenstreetfood.dk.

Morning
At breakfast, the team at the Anatolia stall sells simit, the iconic sesame bread ring, and gözleme, a floppy, cheese-filled turnover that’s warmed on the griddle.

Noon
The eclectic menu at Copper and Wheat changes weekly, with dishes like tartiflette, a bacon, onion and potato tart. Duck-fat fries (pictured) are a house specialty.

Afternoon
Hansens’s nougat ice cream, made with organic milk, is a best seller at Ishytten (The Ice Hut). The double vanilla flavor uses beans from Madagascar and Congo.

Four years ago, a beautiful 1891 building in bohemian Kreuzberg was rescued from the fate of becoming a commercial supermarket. Now, Berliners shop here for buttery potatoes, Sironi’s rustic Italian breads, and bratwurst laced with apricots by New Zealander Simon Ellery—a.k.a. The Sausage Man Never Sleeps. Recently, Markthalle launched Sunday’s Breakfast Market, featuring Portuguese custard tarts, and buns filled with pulled pork, smoldered for hours in a Southern Pride smoker. On Street Food Thursday, the market turns into party central with 20-plus stalls (some run by aspiring chefs) and, often, live music. Among the snacks: kimchi meatball subs from Mr. Susan and cheesy spaetzle with crisp onions at Heisser Hobel, sold from an old East German truck bought on eBay. markthalleneun.de.

This futuristic $200 million structure has 100 shops and stalls, plus apartments. Among the market’s eight restaurants: BasQ Kitchen, with avant-garde tapas from El Bulli alum Alvaro Martinez. Best local specialties to buy: supple aged cheeses from Rotterdamsche Oude Kaas; fresh herring from Schmidt Zeevis; and Van Vliet’s waffle sandwiches. markthalrotterdam.nl.

The new Mercato Centrale is a chic food court on top of the staunchly old-school San Lorenzo market. The light-filled 1870s structure gathers singular butchers, bakers and salumi curators. mercatocentrale.it.