Like soup on a slow simmer or wine barrels aging, a food tour starts long before you walk through the door and say “hello”.
Food tours in general last around three hours and can be complex for many reasons, first and foremost because they involve freshly prepared food. Small plates served shortly after the group is seated at multiple restaurant stops takes coordination, planning, and timing.
Aside from chefs preparing awesome plates of yumminess, there are many other people who make a food tour what it is. The restaurant host/hostess who takes the reservation and makes sure there is a place set aside for us. The staff who set up our spot the day we arrive. The manager or owner who visits the table during a busy night to greet our group. The chef, who not only prepares and plates the food, but often emerges from the kitchen to greet visitors with a smile, tells them about the dish and answers questions. Then there’s the wait staff who refill water glasses and take drink orders. And finally the someone or someones who whisk away our dirty dishes and clean them up all while we are on our way to the next stop.
So how many chefs DOES it take to make a food tour? On evening tours where we stop at 4 restaurants, that would be approximately 8. One executive chef and one sous or line chef at each restaurant.
Add up the “extra” staff mentioned above plus business owners and artists who welcome us into their shop/studio/gallery, and there you have it: An average of 8 chefs PLUS nearly 20 other people have their hand in making your food tour red-carpet special each night.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget the tour guides. That’s us. We do our best to make sure it all comes together.
Can’t wait to see you on a tour!
