The First Tour of Its Kind in the Area!

Duration

• 3 hours

What to Know

• Tours happen rain or shine except in extreme weather conditions since we can simply move the tours indoor.
• First two stops and last stops have restrooms.
• The tour costs includes all food and drink. Gratuities are optional If you feel the tour exceeded your expectations.
• Please inform me of any group food allergies, and I will do my best to accommodate.
• Come hungry and leave happy, we will be eating food at multiple stops so we suggest a light breakfast if at all!
• Tours are seasonal meaning you can experience this same tour throughout the year and still learn new things!

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Off the Eaten path tours. I want to invite you on a very special experience of exploring one of the greatest ethnic neighborhoods in the United States, Boston’s Historic North End. I created this tour to be a celebration of the food, wine, history, culture, and most importantly the people of North End. Although we never leave the neighborhood physically, and only walk 4 blocks.

We metaphorically travel up and down the peninsula of Italy exploring the foods from the various regions of Italy that are so proudly represented in the largest “little Italy “ in the United States. On top of being the most diverse food tour of the North End, and by far the most delicious, this is also the most comprehensive historical tour documenting the fascinating history of how the North End became Italian and connects the dots to why so many Italians migrated from Italy. The Food will tie our story together perfectly. If you love exploring neighborhoods, food, culture and wine, then this tour is for you. I promise it to be one of the most unique and fun tours you have been on.

About the Tour

Off the Eaten Path is a leisurely 3 hour walking tour that has the structure of a progressive lunch, with each course focusing on a particular region of Italy. We begin by starting our journey in the Deep South of Italy, Sicily. We try regional delicacies such as arancini, Panzarroti, and Sicilian pizza, we then push up to Naples where we experience authentic Neapolitan Pizza in the only certified oven to come from Italy, we also make a slight detour to the Amalfi coast, to Sorrento, for authentic gnocchi alla sorentina.

From there we venture to a beloved neighborhood wine shop, where you will learn all about the process of wine making, from the influence of soils and weather, what the Italians call ambiante, to how wine gets its color, and how Italian drink it with a meal. You will never think of wine the same way again. Next we will unlock some of the ancient secrets of the Mediterranean diet. Learn about the history of Olive oil, and learn how to buy real extra virgin olive oil, vs the fake oil being exported from Italy to the unassuming masses. We will continue our journey to Umbria, and Modena. Where we will try 12 year aged balsamic vinegar, hop next door to Parma for the best prosciutto outside of Emilia Romagna, and the go to the other great Island, of Sardina. There we will have a special sheep’s milk cheese, all while being in the best Italian market in the city.

We will experience a coffee and spice shop, that will take us back in time, as it’s the oldest retail shop still standing. We will meander down a back alley and discover an artisan bakery, where they brought a starters dough yeast all the way from Naples that’s over 160 years old. Just when you thought this tour could not get any better, I will up the ante and take you to my personal hang-out, a caffe! There we will end with the trifecta! The espresso, cannoli and gelato, all of them the best in the neighborhood. At this point, I hope to leave your bellies, hearts and minds full.

A Tale of two Peninsulas

A consistent theme of the tour is exploring the hyper-localism of the North End and the parallels to Italy’s hyper-regionalism. Both places are peninsulas that have been conquered by various groups of ethnicities and people over their histories. The North End has always been “separate” from Boston, in that it’s a peninsula with natural and at times artificial boundaries ( The JFK Expressway built in the 1950”s completely Balkanized the neighborhood until the completion of the Big Dig and subsequent Greenway park) Italy is the most invaded country in history ( just look at where it’s located on a map, it’s the crossroads of three continents). Geography, history, and food will play equal parts on our journey and exploration of two great peninsulas.

About the Guide

My name is Paula and I will be your guide on this journey. I started the tour in 2012 before any other food tour of this kind existed in the neighborhood. I was able to build it based on my longtime relationship I’ve built over a 20 year period with all of the small family owned businesses. Although I’m not technically a “native” I like to think of myself as a NINE ( non- indigenous North Ender) . If you have ever been to a place and felt a magnetic pull, this was how I felt as a teenager from a small town in NH coming to the “big city” to walk the Freedom trail, and hopefully see the Paul Revere House.

I will never forget seeing a huge imposing green highway separating the downtown of Boston from the North End. We went under the bridge and coming up on the other side felt like we left Boston all together and somehow ended up in Italy. Everything changed. The buildings, the narrow winding streets and back alleys, the crowds of people on corner speaking, a musical language, the butcher shops with red awnings and rabbits hanging, the beautiful displays of artichokes, tomatoes, and fruits piled high in the green grocers. The gorgeous displays of hand painted marzipan in the store fronts of the pastry shops were a favorite. All in all, it was like no place I had ever experienced this side of the Atlantic. It was Italy, it felt like Europe, it was like being in a time gone-by, yet it was still distinctly Boston. I was in love.

The North End is my first big love affair, and this tour is my first baby. (I’ve subsequently met my husband in the neighborhood and I’m blessed to be the mother of three real in the flesh children) but the tour itself is so personal I’ve decided to conduct all the tours myself . I’ve spent countless hours interviewing North Enders. Reading everything I can get my hands on that pertains to the various subject matters we explore. My training in Art History at Boston University, and frequent travel to Italy has helped me with how I see the context of events. But most importantly my experience of living and working in the North End gives the tour its authenticity. When you’re choosing an experience, I encourage you to read the reviews of all the various tours. I’m proud of the incredible feedback and the repetition of my customers who keep coming back and bringing friends and family on the tour. I truly feel privileged to be able to share this incredible community with my guests.