This is now my seventeenth food tour in the US (I’m counting the cocktail tour), and I’ve decided there are two categories:
1. Tours where the guide takes an active role (i.e. eats the food, sits with the guests)
2. Tours where the guide is more passive (i.e. stands to one side and lets the guests interact whilst eating)
After the Carmel-by-the-Sea Food Tour today I’m going to have to add another category:
3. Tours where the establishment owner leads the tasting session with all their culinary expertise.
Now don’t get me wrong, on some of the tours there were moments where we got to ‘meet the chef’ or chat to the owner of a restaurant, but this experience was on a whole other level. Out of the seven food stops, three of them involved personal interactions with the owners, giving us an insight into the workings and history of the establishments that was completely unique to us.
Staff Review
The tour was led by Amber, who started by introducing herself and talking about the history of Carmel (Clint Eastwood was the mayor once, he legalized eating ice cream outdoors, etc. etc.), before taking us to the first stop; 400° Gourmet Burger & Fries - the only burger joint in downtown Carmel! Here we had a pulled pork slider with potato chips (crisps to my UK readers), and a choice of beer, wine, or milkshake. I went for beer (of course) but apparently the milkshake was divine!
| Carmel Honey Company
Next up was the Carmel Honey Company, which has a really cute backstory about the owner (Jake) who started the business as a school project in 5th grade and decided to see it through. His mom was ready and waiting for us with a plate of four honeys (honies?) for us to taste, plus some food and honey pairings to demonstrate the versatility of their produce. The passion and pride she held for her son was hugely evident as we ate, and I can safely say it’s the best honey I’ve ever tasted - the orange blossom variety was definitely my favorite.
| La Balena and Cultura
After a brief pause at the old Carmel Dairy we arrived at La Balena, an authentic Italian restaurant serving up fresh pasta daily. The spaghetti bolognese we sampled was superb, and went nicely with the Chianti Classico and garden salad also on the table - definitely could have eaten a whole plate! There was no time to waste though, so we meandered through a Secret Garden and found ourselves at the next restaurant; Cultura. The classic Mexican chicken and chorizo tacos were delicious, but the star of the show was the chapulín - spicy grasshoppers! We were also served a ‘mezcalrita’; a margarita using mezcal instead of tequila, complete with a ground-worm salt rim.
| Café Carmel
Time for dessert! To satisfy our sweet cravings we headed to Café Carmel on Ocean Avenue, a quaint and beautifully decorated cafe serving all manner of delicacies. As we were receiving a (quite large) slice of chocolate cheesecake, the owner, Faye, came out to talk to us about the history of her restaurant. Having worked in the culinary arts most of her life, Faye was a perfectionist when it came to baking and would only serve dishes that she’d eat herself. We were even treated to a tour of the kitchen where the chefs were making the most delicious looking pastries - I may have to come back another day!
| Trio Carmel and Luna's Chocolates
The sixth stop on the tour was very unique; olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting at Trio Carmel. The owner, Carl, headed up the session, giving us samples of two oils that were harvested at different times (the difference is highly distinct), plus a blend of cranberry and pear vinegar with olive oil, strawberry dark balsamic with basil olive oil, and sparkling water with peach white balsamic. Amber then emerged from out back with a tray of vanilla ice cream that we got to taste with blackberry and ginger balsamic, and Persian lemon olive oil with sea salt. This was honestly one of the best food items I’ve ever tasted on a food tour.
A short walk through a floral courtyard brought us to the seventh and final stop; Lula’s Chocolates. I’m not usually a chocolate fan, but their sea salt caramel was ridiculously good (and their bestseller), and the dark chocolate truffle was fantastic too. The tour booklet that Amber provided us with included discounts at several of the places we had visited, including Lula’s Chocolates, so we could shop to our heart’s content for the rest of the day!
Thanks for reading!
The Carmel-by-the-Sea Culinary Tour has gone straight to the top of my Favorite Tours list, and that’s thanks to Amber being a great guide and clearly spending a lot of energy building relationships with the establishments along the way. At no point did we feel unwanted or like a nuisance (which is often the case with large tour groups), instead we were treated to exclusive tastings and behind-the-scenes experiences. I would advise anyone visiting the Monterey Peninsula to book this tour - it really is the best way to see Carmel!
