PITTSBURGH has long had an appetite for hearty Old World fare introduced by Eastern European immigrants: pirogi, cabbage rolls, kielbasa. Tourists still flock to Primanti Brothers, a landmark restaurant famous for its outsized meat-and-cheese sandwiches stuffed with French fries and coleslaw. Recently, however, Pittsburgh’s value-driven food and restaurant culture has been undergoing a transformation, with a new emphasis on what’s fresh and local.

“An appreciation for local foods and farm-to-table dining really gained momentum several years ago,” said Susan Barclay, a leader of Slow Food Pittsburgh. She is also a founder of the organization’s Laptop Butcher Shop, a popular online service that, four times a year, offers organic and locally raised meats and poultry to conscientious eaters around town.

You might also find some of those buyers at the Pittsburgh Public Market (Smallman and 17th Streets; pittsburghpublicmarket.org), which opened in September and operates on weekends, year-round. The indoor market, an eight-year, $1.3 million project, constitutes 10,000 square feet of the historic Fruit and Auction building. A rotating group of about 45 vendors sells flowers, crafts and local foods like smoked bison pâté from Crested Duck Charcuterie, which uses only meat and produce from family-owned farms within a 75-mile radius of Pittsburgh.

For a more elegant take on farm-freshness, diners head to Habitat (510 Market Street; 412-773-8848; habitatrestaurant.com), located in the year-old LEED-certified Fairmont hotel. At the sleek, light-filled restaurant, which opened last March, the chef, Andrew Morrison, has created a global fusion menu that uses locally sourced ingredients, like golden trout from Laurel Hill, a fish farm in eastern Pennsylvania.