photo: owner outside of his ethnic market

Food Shopping or Adventuring?

Food shopping is something most of us are pretty good at doing as quickly as possible. Shopping list? Check. Parking spot near entrance? Yup. Cart? Coupons? Yes and Yes. Now just hit the express lane, and you’re out.

Guided tours offer shoppers an insider's view of local ethnic markets.

But what if, just once, you gave yourself a few hours to really enjoy the experience of finding great food…?

No, we don’t mean setting up a hammock in the dairy section.

Think more along the lines of checking out your local markets and specialty stores to see if there are any local experts who offer guided tours of the best of the best.

In Chicago, Evelyn Thompson will take you on a private tour in her maroon station wagon around some of the city’s best ethnic groceries, including ones where you can get great Cuban coffee or nopales, an edible Mexican cactus. In Boston’s North End, tour guide Michele Topor brings shoppers to the best hidden pastry shops, while in Philadelphia, Celeste Morello, author of the Italian Market Cookbook, takes her flock through the streets in Bella Vista—birthplace of the cheesesteak—in search of pasta that’s so fresh it’s not even cut until it’s ordered.

Similar tours are offered in cities all around the country, from New York to Portland, Oregon to Honolulu.

“These tours are a really great way to learn about where you live,” says GraceAnn Walden, who has been guiding gourmands through San Francisco’s markets every week for more than 20 years. It’s a way to learn history without it being boring. How can it be boring when you’re tasting so many things? Besides, I tell jokes!” Her most popular tour lasts 4 hours and goes all around North Beach. The walk hits the best Italian sausage shops, lets people go behind the scenes at bakeries to watch focaccia being made, and even clues people in on the art of making chocolate truffles. At the end of the tour, everyone puts down their shopping bags for an hour in order to sit down for a family-style Italian lunch.

Who knew an entire day spent getting groceries could be this fun!

Posted on January 09, 2006