People who love to eat are always the best people. — Julia Child
The City of Salem, Massachusetts has an abundance of treasures: The House of the Seven Gables, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Athenaeum, Phillips House, Ropes Garden, the Maritime National Historic Site, and (dare I say?) the Pickering House. Well, now you can add to this list: Karen Scalia and her Salem Food Tours.
Tim and I were privileged to go on a tour (and we took my sister-in-law) this past Saturday, and I
- Fi, Tim and I are about to start the tour
recommend it to everybody who eats. Well, there will be kid-oriented tours eventually, but for now, it’s just for adults. Even if you live in Salem and think you know all there is to know about its food history and current restaurant scene, you need to go. And bring your out-of-town guests, by all means, for “A Taste of History.”
August 24th marked the one-year anniversary for Salem Food Tours and I predict there will be many more anniversaries. Karen is an energetic guide and a creative planner, with a passion for fresh food and partners who are committed to using local ingredients wherever possible. Her enthusiasm for everything that Salem offers, culinary wise, is contagious.
She writes, “Salem continues to grow as a food destination. The restaurants, shops and farmer’s market, and food events make this wonderful historic city that much tastier!”
Tasting at Salem Spice
c. Salem Food Tours
Karen begins her tours at Salem Spice/The Picklepot on Pickering Wharf, where proprietor David Bowie brings the history and bounty of the spice trade to life. There we tasted all sorts of salts and peppers to learn the distinctions between them and open up our palates. Then we were ready to begin our tour.
The tour takes about three hours ands covers about two miles of walking, with
Not your grandma’s pudding: the finale at Scratch Kitchen
c. Salem Food tours
plenty of stops. She provides water and suggests comfortable walking shoes, but encourages dressing as casually or as fabulously as you like. A typical tour guarantees at least five stops, consisting of a combination of both restaurants and shops. A visit to Salem Food Tours’ Tour Partners page gives you a hint of where you might go on the tour — the tours vary from week to week and you won’t know where you’re going ‘til you get there. But at each stop, the chefs and shopkeepers prepared a light tasting for us (some very generous) — enough to give you a teasing taste of their offerings so you can plan to return on your own for more.
Why yes, that is fettucini with lobster, wild mushrooms, scallions, basil microgreens and creme fraiche a la Grapevine!.
c. Salem Food Tours
After Salem Spice, our tour took us to the amazing Scratch Kitchen, where everything, including the ketchup, is made on-site from local ingredients; Turtle Alley, for some homemade chocolate bliss; Flying Saucer Pizza Company, for two very special ‘zas; Milk and Honey, where we were feted with a blue cheese that was to die for, as well as a (wait for it) chocolate goat cheese log that tasted like the best cheesecake you ever had. Then, it was next door to Salem Wine Imports, where we tasted two Chardonnays, one Californian and one French (and where we will return frequently on Tuesday nights @ 6:30 for their free wine tastings). And then it was back across town to the Grapevine, for a mini-dinner (including their exclusive prosecco and pavan aperitif) that will have me going back, even though I was never particularly a fan of the “old” Grapevine.
A little advice: our tour started at 2:00 and we should not have eaten lunch. But now we know. You’ll need to purchase tickets ahead of time via the website, and Karen’s tour groups consist of only 5 – 12 people, so plan in advance. If you want to try for a last-minute reservation, call her at 978-594-8811 or send her an e-mail at info@salemfoodtours.com.
This is a brilliant way to experience Salem, a joy for foodies and non-foodies
Having a blast at the Grapevine
c. Salem Food Tours
alike, with the added benefit of having authentic ties to our spice trading history. Kudos to Karen for creating yet another great way to make Salem a must-see destination city!
Buon viaggio!
Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…
