Dosas, empanadas and a whole lot of intrigue

A mere five Metro stops on the Red Line from Silver Spring station, you can find Korean tacos, artisan olive oil, kale juice and plenty of hipsters. There are signs advertising the sale of fresh beef legs and crates full of "tuca,” or cactus fruit. A few hundred feet away, a modern building dominates one's view. With a setting reminiscent of markets found in Europe and Africa,

The market, located in the up and coming neighborhood North of Massachusetts Avenue (NoMa) and is composed of older brick buildings, each with individual stores nestled into cubbies, and a centerpiece of a brand new white building with an indoor market. While in the older buildings, stores sell products ranging from produce and fresh meat to clothes and cell phone cases, the new building sells mostly food and other artisan products.

First opened as the Centre Market in 1871, Union Market has been around in some form for at least 200 years. Over time, the market deteriorated, to the point where in the 1980s, most of its vendors left the building to open stores in the suburbs. In 2012, Union Market went through another transformation as developers looking to reignite the old tradition constructed a brand new, white painted brick building.

Comprised of one restaurant and over 35 vendors, the new white building represents the future of markets. These artisan vendors vary from DC Empanadas, which serves empanadas with unique fillings such as BBQ pork; TaKorean, a stall that serves a fusion of Korean BBQ with Mexican tacos; to

But that's not all. In addition to this bustling market, there is an upstairs level in the building which plays host to a series of events, like yoga every Sunday. This level also hosts unique events such as the

Union Market has big plans for the future as developers are snatching more and more land in the area, with an intention to grow the area.

The vibe of an open air market is lost in a supermarket. Maybe it's the pallid white lighting, the near perfect tiredness and neatness or the large spaces--but something is missing. At Union Market, whether shopping among the old brick buildings or wining and dining in the gleaming new white building, this vibe of high end living for cheap is not lost in any translation and develops into an almost-comforting kind of atmosphere.