This is a collaborative post on food tours a few fellow bloggers have taken.
We’d heard about food tours and thought about trying one sometime. But we were so busy discovering food on our own when we traveled that we never made it. we got an offer from a company called Cloud 9 Living to try one of their unique adventures in a city of our choice. Their website was a feast of offerings. We were heading to Denver, so we checked out the offerings there. They had adventures like Night Vision Rafting, Helicopter Skiing in Telluride and Indoor Skydiving. Not in this lifetime! When I got to the Top Restaurant Tour, I knew I’d found our experience. We love food and discovering great dining spots is always an important part of our travels. Culinary Connectors provided our Denver tour experience. With over 80 restaurants in the program, you could take this tour a log and never repeat your experience. The three-hour chauffeured tour visited three eateries. We had a bite to eat accompanied by a drink at each.
The fantasy aspen forest at Beatrice and Woodsley in Denver, photo Steve Collins
We met chauffeured van and guide at a The JP Marriott in the Cherry Creek neighborhood and off we went. Our first stop was Beatrice and Woodsley, where the experience is as much about the ambiance as the food. The restaurant has a back-story and you dine among aspen trees. Our taste treat here was a bite-sized piece of coffee-rubbed local bison served on a mini corncake, accompanied by maple syrup crème brûlée and a half-pour of Zinfandel. Next we were off to Strings, a Denver dining destination for over twenty-five years. The first thing we saw in this former destination popular with rock stars in the 80s, was a guitar, autographed by Aerosmith, hanging on the wall. Our taste here was a perfectly cooked lamb chop accompanied by a Rhone red. Our last stop was Second Home at the JW Marriott Hotel where we met for the tour. We hit the jackpot here with perfectly seared diver scallops followed by a roasted beet salad served with beet-infused vodka cocktail followed by Bison Stroganoff. For dessert: a giant chocolate chip cookie served warm in its skillet and al la mode. This we were later told was atypical of the tour where the norm is small bites. Sated and happy we walked out into the Denver dusk knowing we’d made some new friends and discovered three excellent restaurants. We would definitely do a dining tour again.
A pie on the Chicago Pizza Tour, photo/ourtesy Wanderlust World
From Jan Shepard Ross of Wanderlust World*
If you love pizza and you love food tours, you must plan a tour with Chicago Pizza Tours. They offer several different tours; we chose the Original Chicago Pizza Tour which is a bus guided tour covering 4 pizzerias over the course of 3 – 3 ½ hours. You learn about the history of the restaurants, the ingredients, ovens, and what makes each of the pizzas unique and special. We began at Pizano’s downtown, then continued to the unusually named Pequod’s Pizza, best known for their “caramelized” crusts. Next was Pizzeria Da Neall, a very popular place because of the fresh offerings prepared every day. They’re famous for their Margherita pizza and it was delicious. Our last stop was at Coalfire Pizza, where they make pizzas in a coal-fired oven. A traditional Neapolitan style pizza with an American spin, it has a thin crust that is slightly charred.
Don’t plan to eat a bite before you take this tour because you will stagger out of the last place, full of the delicious, cheesy goodness of pizza. It is a great introduction to a number of completely different kinds of pizza available in the Chicago area
From Nancy Thompson Just a Backpack and a Rollie
Food trucks abound in Portland, OR, photo/ courtesy Just a Backpack and a Rollie
There is no better way to explore the culinary delights of the beautiful city, foodie favorite and my hometown of Portland, Oregon than to take a well-curated food tour. Up and coming chefs who are moving to the Pacific Northwest in droves take full advantage of our bountiful natural resources and local area farms. Toss in award-winning wineries, breweries, chocolatiers and a local salt maker and you are in for an afternoon of tasty delights. Portland offers a variety of tour options through two companies: Portland Walking Tours and Forktown Food Tours. Both are excellent and cover different areas of the city. On any given tour, you will visit seven or eight different types of venues including restaurants, food carts, artisan food shops, coffee shops or local craft distillery. Along the route (about 1.5 flat miles) your guide will entertain you with tidbits about Portland’s food scene, mix in some local art, history and architecture and most importantly, you’ll have plenty of time to sip and sample at each stop along the route. Food tours are a fun way to entertain out of town guests or try out one of the new food carts that are springing up daily. Wear comfortable shoes, bring a camera and enjoy!
From Lynda Thorn of This Mama Can Cook*
A stop on the South Beach food tour, photo/ourtesy MommyPowers
Until very recently, I’d never been on a food tour. What kind of foodie has never been on a food tour? Pretty sad, huh? Well, all of that changed a couple of weeks ago while I was in Miami to Miami to attend BlogHer Food, a conference for food bloggers.
Before arriving in Miami, the owner of Miami Culinary Tours invited me to take part in their South Beach Food Tour. I jumped at the chance to participate. She explained that the tour would last about three hours, and we’d be walking from place to place. My group had about eight people in it. Our tour guide, Mirka, was amazing! Not only did we visit six restaurants that I never would have found on my own- she also gave us a mini history lesson along the way. The restaurants we visited ranged from Cuban to Italian. Needless to say, I’m hooked on food tours and will be doing another in Portland, Oregon next week.
From Carole Terwilliger Meyers Travels with Carole*
Alleva Dairy, one of the places on the Ahoy NY Tour, photo/courtesy Travels with Carole
The Chinatown and Little Italy Food Fest tour in NYC from Ahoy NY Tours & Tasting combines history, culture, and cuisine. We saw the site of a famous mob hit as well as the location of NYC’s oldest tenement. We tasted fresh housemade mozzarella paired with prosciutto, a Sicilian cannoli pastry, a Chinese dumpling, Chinese ice cream, and then sat down for a delicious Thai lunch. It is such a treat to be guided to spots I’d probably miss otherwise, and then be able to take friends back for more!
Have you been on a food tour? Tell us about it.
* Disclosure: These tours were provided free by the tour companies. The bloggers have assured us that this did not affect their posts in any way. We weren’t comped by the tour provider and they did not know that Cloud 9 had treated us to our tour until after the fact. Cloud 9 asked us to provide an honest review and we did.
Food tours: a great way to explore city dining is a post from: Santa Fe Travelers
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