Travel nourishes your soul as much as food nourishes your bodyso we recommend traveling outside of your comfort zone to try different kinds of cuisine as often as you can. We found four distinctly different markets within 60 miles from the comfort of downtown Sarasota that offer an escape from the ordinary.  

Wat Mongkolratanaram Thai Temple, Tampa

The picturesque setting of this Buddhist Temple on the Palm River in Tampa has all the ingredients for a perfectly peaceful morning. Arrive before the Sunday Market begins at 9am and wander through the grounds while riverfront breezes buoy your spirit as they waft through the trees carrying the mouthwatering scents of various Thai delicacies. Begin with a complimentary cup of coffee in the coffee garden before making your way over to the glittering temple itself, which presides majestically over its surroundings. The temple is as magnificent on the inside as it is on the outside but be sure to leave your shoes at the door before you venture into this holy space. Once you’ve paid your respects you can join the queue of devotees waiting patiently for noodle soup, panang and masaman curries, fried bananas, coconut custards and a plethora of other Thai treats. Long wooden picnic benches are set along the riverfront under the trees where guests share laughter and trade stories as they indulge in the fresh and flavorful food. The assembly line of volunteers and cooks banter amiably as they work and there’s a general air of conviviality and satisfaction. After you’ve enjoyed your meal you should take a look at the fresh produce stands filled with organic passion fruit, spiky-looking rambutan (lychee’s sweet but distant cousin) and other exotic fruits and vegetables. There are aromatic curry leaf plants and delicate orchids for sale alongside the noni plant, the juice of which is purported to have curative powers and which can easily be cared for in your own backyard. The market is cash only but the prices are exceptionally reasonable. 

We Recommend: Noodle Soup with Pork and “Regular” Noodles. Be sure to avail yourself of the condiments station and add a spoonful of fish sauce, a pinch of sugar, a dash of red pepper flakes and a drizzle of chili sauce to add depth to steaming broth filled with fresh scallions and crunchy sprouts. 

Mazzaro’s Italian Market, St. Petersburg

Mazzaro’s Italian Market is like a large Italian family gathering: it’s loud, there’s a copious amount of wine, the air smells like freshly baked bread and just-brewed coffee, and there’s someone trying to feed you something around every corner. On any given day you can wander through the crowd of determined shoppers and sample foie gras pate, exotic cheese, pink champagne and homemade gelato. There’s always a line of people waiting for crusty Italian bread to come out of the oven and a group clamoring for the selection of daily fresh caught seafood. There’s also a small army of friendly butchers on hand if you have a question about how to prepare the beautiful cuts of meat. The store market reminds us of a bustling Italian street filled with gourmet products and fresh local produce, not to mention handmade pasta. There’s a patio on which you can enjoy your purchased items – wine and beer included – and, on Saturdays, live music fills the air. Next door, there’s another wonderland to be discovered:  Casa di Mazzaro, a giant warehouse full of high-end cookware, specialty items and unusual trinkets, and even in the warehouse there are food and beverage samples to be had. There’s a tea sommelier peddling fragrant loose leaf blends and a health food purveyor measuring out heavenly bites of chocolate coconut oil. Don’t be surprised to find yourself leaving Mazzaro’s feeling slightly bewildered, it’s difficult to orient yourself with your surroundings once you’re standing in the parking lot next to your car loaded with shopping bags, feeling bereft at the sudden loss of color and noise - you’ll want to head back to your cozy table and stay a while. All at once you recall Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

We Recommend Grab a number at the deli counter and spend some time perusing the freshly prepared indulgences on offer as you wait your turn to order. They’re happy to heat something up for you, such as the rich eggplant dish with robust marinara, but, if you’ve saved enough room, you’re going to want to try a made-to-order sandwich loaded with Italian meats and cheese. Get a small side of spicy artichoke salad and thank us later. 

Red Barn Flea Market, Bradenton

The Red Barn Flea Market has been a Bradenton landmark since 1981 but walking through the interior feels like stepping through time and ending up closer to the 1950s. There’s a smattering of new-fangled products to be sure but, on balance, the booths and storefronts are filled to bursting with old school tchotchkes and antique knickknacks. There’s a large outdoor market with farm-fresh produce, artisan crafts and small batch snacks but the heart of this market can be found inside the food court sipping on coffee and chowing on polish sausage and cheese fries at Maw’s Place, or filling up on award-winning Mexican cuisine at Maria’s Restaurant. Anthony Bourdain once waxed poetic on the nostalgic wonder of a late night visit to a Waffle House in Charleston and an early morning visit to Red Barn Flea Market provides one with the same feeling of experiencing a slice of true Americana. Before the market fills to capacity, in the almost eerie calm before the storm, vendors are still putting out their wares, chatting about their lives with easy camaraderie and grabbing sustenance before the lines begin to form. There’s more than one elderly gentleman in a cowboy hat hunkered down at the counter around the outside of Maw’s Place watching the workers as they cook on flat tops and call out greetings to their regulars. There are over 600 flea market booths to be shopped here and it’s easy to spend hours flipping through towering stacks of secondhand books or combing the furniture vendors for undiscovered gems. 

We recommend: There’s nothing better than authentic Mexican street food and we love the Caldo de Res (Beef Soup) and the steak tacos with cilantro and onions. Wash it down with a creamy glass of horchata and you’ll feel ready to tackle a few hours of flea market shopping.  

Locale Market, St. Petersburg

This two-story homage to the glory of food is the kind of place one can get lost in for hours with tempting delights in every nook and cranny. Even window shopping this market is a pleasurable experience as friendly team members smile at passersby who stop to gape at the sight of fresh dough being worked in the bakery. The founders of Locale Market are culinary celebrities Chef Michael Mina and Chef Don Pintabona. Chef Don is a graduate of University of South Florida and the former executive chef of Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Grill in New York. The philosophy of Locale Market is simple: to support local growers and provide guests with the best fresh local produce. At the end of 2015, one of the local purveyors highlighted by Locale Market was Anna Maria Island’s own Ed Chiles of Gamble Creek Farm. There are many specialty items available in the ground-level market, including kits to grow your own lettuce. Owners and representatives of small, local companies sample their own wares at small stations throughout the store. Local olive oils, jams and wines are on offer, as well as prepared food items of stunning quality. The fish counter is loaded with octopus salad and salmon poke and tuna sushi all prepared in front of the admiring eyes of neighbors and tourists. See a team member working with something exotic? Ask them what it is and you’re likely to get an explanation and a sample. We were delighted when a horned melon was cut open to reveal its emerald green passion fruit-textured interior and a spoon proffered with a flourish. There’s a lovely outdoor patio on the ground floor but venture upstairs and you’ll find a beautiful restaurant, ‘FarmTable Kitchen’, with a craft beer and wine bar. This ‘farm-and-Gulf-to-table’ café features a seasonally and often daily changing a la carte menu that reads like the holiday wish list for well-behaved foodies: Joyce Farms Chicken, Niman Ranch Lamb, Oak-Fired Baby Octopus. There are stone hearth pizzas and exotic cheese and charcuterie served with house-made bread. Locale dry-ages its own beef and uses liquid nitrogen to make its ice cream. If you’re looking for a fresh local meal prepared using cutting edge techniques and hand selected ingredients – you’ve found your Mecca. 

We recommend:  You can’t go wrong with a good old-fashioned All American Burger and the St. Petersburger Deluxe is the best one we’ve tried in a while. Order your burger medium and splurge on the deluxe additions of fried egg and Florida avocado guacamole. The herbed duck fat fries will make you happy to be alive and convince you to spend every cheat day upstairs at Locale Market.