This Is The First African Food Hall In The World

Food halls of various sizes and iterations exist across the U.S. and around the world, like Seattle's famous Pike Place to Paris' oldest food market, the Marché des Enfants Rouges (according to The Recipe). Although they often wind up being compared to simple food courts, these dining halls elevate choices and experiences way beyond the homogenous, unexciting, fast food offerings found in shopping malls. New York Times shares that food halls bring together expertly crafted fare from the best local chefs, restaurants, bars, and bakeries under one roof, as well as creating a market to find delicacies, seafood, expertly butchered meats, and drinks from coffees to wine to bring home. These social hubs typically feature foods from multiple concepts and cultures, giving hungry visitors a chance to try exciting new items and authentic flavors all in one place.

Though some food halls are created around a single cultural focus, such as Chicago's now closed LatiniCity (per Chicago Loop Alliance), there has never been a food hall dedicated solely to the foods of African countries — until now. Chef, author, and restaurateur Alexander Smalls is finally seeing his years-long quest become a reality, according to Food & Wine. "I set out to create a destination that would tell the story of African food on five continents [and tell] how, through slavery, Africans changed the global culinary conversation," Smalls says in the article. His new creation is called Alkebulan, an African food hall where, according to the official website, people can experience "the food, music, flavors, and traditions that are instrumental to African culture."