We all know that American cities are undergoing a renaissance, with growing populations, the renovation of parks and waterfronts, the proliferation of bike lanes and pedestrian promenades. But here's another leading indicator of renewed urban vitality: food, in the form of new restaurants, cafés, and the farmers' markets that have sprouted everywhere in the last few years, even in the most precarious urban centers.

Take Detroit. When the über-cool barbecue joint Slows Bar BQ opened in 2005, just across from the crumbling symbol of the city's lost grandeur, the hulking ruin of Michigan Central Station, it became an instant hit with young urban pioneers and out-of-towners alike. Along with the increased bustle of the city's historic Eastern Market, it is part of a 21st-century culinary story that has been repeated across the Rust Belt. In downtown Cleveland on East Fourth Street, once moribund after dark except for drug dealers, there are now more than a dozen restaurants along a vibrant two-block stretch—including Lola, the flagship of Iron Chef Michael Symon, and chef Jonathon Sawyer's Greenhouse Tavern, central to the city's locavore scene.