Boston Foodie Tours' Beacon Hill+Back Bay Tour

The Olympics of all Food Tours, Boston Foodie Tours (Beacon Hill+Back Bay) incorporated a massive number of stops over 5 hours and all were well worth the trip!

Tour guide and Founder, Audrey really knows her town's foodie spots and it's obvious that she enjoys every minute of sharing it with all of us!

Arrive with an appetite and be prepared to be filled to the gills with various sweet and savory treats as you stroll around the neighborhoods learning loads of historic information and maybe even about a few major upcoming events!

You'd be hard pressed to turn any of the appetizing dishes down from the lobster pizza, ice cream, artisan chocolate, olive oils to much, much more!

I will not spoil too many of the surprising historic points Audrey shared with us along the way.

Get ready to drool as I take you through our fabulously foodie-rific Saturday afternoon!

We were fortunate enough to be part of a small tour group (totaling 4 attendees).  I imagine on a busy summer Saturday afternoon where the humidity was just right and the drizzle was not to bothersome, a smaller group was best for touring the smaller establishments!

My friend and I took Audrey's advice and arrived at the Liberty Hotel a tad early to partake of the Bloody Mary bar and bubbly, respectively, from Clink Restaurant's lobby bar.

After an brief introduction we headed to Scampo to sample Chef Lydia Shire's critically-acclaimed lobster pizza!  We sat at the mozzarella bar and watched the sous chefs in action as they served up the lunch crowd. 

We began with crisp bread sticks and a beautifully herbaceous tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad drizzled with tangy balsamic  and flavorful EVOO.

Tomato, Arugula, Burrata Salad

The lobster pizza was EVERYTHING I imagined to be if not more!  Thin crisp crust (finished in Scampo's beautiful wood-fire grill)  topped with generous chunks of lobster meat and claw, lobster cream, Parmesan cheese, scallions, ricotta salata, and EVOO--this was hands-down THE best pizza I've had the honor of sampling!

Oven-Ready!

Finished masterpiece!

Other lovely dishes served from the mozzarella bar:

Tuna Niçoise Salad

Prosciutto Naan

We also enjoyed the beautiful surrounding as Audrey gave us some background on various collectibles, furniture pieces, wall decor and "ceiling candy" (as I like to call it).

The main bar.

We even had the opportunity to meet Scampo's talented Executive Chef Simon Restrepo!

Next stop...

Julia Child's favorite market (Boston location)-Savenor's Market !!!
Here we found some very interesting bites!  We met the young Lead cutter, Brian Draper, boasted about Savenor's wild game & specialty meats.  
I must say the variety and selection of quality exotic meats was pretty impressive: rabbit, alligator, rattlesnake, elk, bison, kangaroo, boar, the list truly goes on and on!

Other wonderful delights included rendered duck fat, goose fat, and pork lard! Oh my!

Savenor's offers a terrific selection of seafood options as well!

The market carries many regional and local products.  I purchased and later really enjoyed the roasted chickpeas by Biena and the Tate's Bake Shop chocolate chip cookies were amazing!

The Cinnamon Maple was my favorite!

In house, we were able to sample Waferbites with roasted red pepper hummus.

 
J.P Licks:

We were able to sample any flavor we desired!  I decided to mix lime and mint.  It was a hit!  The out of town guests really enjoyed this stop!

 At The Paramount, Boston's most popular "Breakfast-served-all-day" establishment, we learned all about the rules for diners.  Thanks to Audrey, we will save ourselves some embarrassment when dining here as first-timers. 

The Paramount provided fresh squeezed orange juice for the entire tour group!

Next Up....

Beacon Hill Chocolates--Two time winner of Best of Boston!

Beacon Hill Chocolates is a chocolate lover's dream!  A quaint shop filled with an assortment of chocolate goodies and beautiful keepsake boxes!

As our takeaways were given the option of Broundies (chocolate-covered brownie pops) or a 'deconstructed' smore pop!

My favorite sampling of the day here was the salted milk chocolate with a caramel center!

Other treats:

Classics Candies!

 

The tiramisu sorbet was phenomenal!

I really enjoyed the bacon milk chocolate bar!  The bacon bits were caramelized and tasted more like smoked toffee than a breakfast meat!

I purchased this keepsake box.  It is now my new favorite thing!

Strolling onward...
We crossed into the Boston Public Garden where of course we introduced the out of state tour attendees to Mrs. Mallard and her brood of ducklings...

OK! So only snagged a pic of the ducklings...

Audrey then walked us to the September 11th memorial garden area.  I had no idea this section existed.  It was quite beautiful and peaceful.

 After paying our respects, we traveled over to Bacco Wine & Cheese shop (a personal favorite of mine)!


Once Audrey mentioned to Bob Bacco (Owner), that I was covering the tour, her said something to the effect of "Oh you're the one is stilettos?"  LOL.  Gotta love that!

Bacco is one of the premier wine and cheese specialty shops in the area and they carry much, much more!


We were scheduled for a wine tasting (which is par for the course on Saturdays (2-7 pm) and Monday-Friday (5-7 pm) at Bacco.
Cheese tasting is also encouraged for any fromage that has been cut!

Before getting to the wine, we sampled a number of delicious items set up especially for the tour:
 

Crostini with Dukkah & Olive oil

Dukka: Egyptian Spice & Nut Mix-a local product

Lydia's Handcrafted Foods' Dukkah Egyptian Spice & Nut mix was fantastic.  It's mild enough to add to fish, yet flavorful enough to enhance red meat.  It was presented nicely over crostinis drizzled with olive oil.

I really enjoyed another locally produced product: Traditions (jams/preserves) by local student Monica Mohan who has a great story!  We sampled both the sweet blueberry and the savory roasted garlic and onion jams.  Both were magnificent.

The Hawaiian press was delicious too!

St. Emilion macaroons are RIDICULOUSLY good!  They are super moist and can really satisfy a sweet tooth in 2 seconds flat!

I am convinced that seeing which tour attendee will try Alex's "Ugly" sauce is the highlight of the tour for both Bob and Audrey.  He looks WAY too happy here!

My friend was up for the challenge.  She credits her Caribbean taste buds for her ability to tolerate the apparently VERY hot sauce!

 

Also check out Bacco's daily Bento boxes!

The wine and cheese tasting:

 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon ('10),  Borsao Garnacha ('11),  Keenan Chardonnay ('09), & Ataraxia Sauvignon Blanc

The goat Taleggio was pretty nice.  It had a sweet, creamy start with a sharp biting finish.

We then made our way over to...

Georgetown Cupcakes Newbury Street

We each chose one cupcake as our takeaway!  I ordered the mint cookies & cream!  The cake was moist and the icing not too sugary.  Though the place was jam-packed, the service remained friendly and not flustered which is, of course, a plus!

If I had this fabulous mixer at home, maybe I'd bake...maybe....

 

Bon Me Food Truck!

THE Vietnamese Food Truck of Boston!  Bon Me serves up the freshest, brightest Vietnamese fare in the city so I was ecstatic when I realized we were heading their way!

 Our takeaways were any banh mi sandwich (Fillings choices include: BBQ pork, Spice-rubbed chicken, or Tofu & Shiitake) and the deviled tea egg.




Banh mi:  The toasted baguette sandwich is then topped with pickled daikon, carrots, and cucumbers, red onion, and lots of cilantro.  The house-made spicy mayo and pate finishes the masterpiece.



 


 


Deviled Tea Egg: The spicy may and cayenne pepper added a surprising kick!

The spicy ginger lemonade is a must try!

Other food options include a variety of noodle salads and rice bowls.

I was still savoring my bahn mi as we whipped across Copley Square towards Turner's Fisheries to sample their award winning (Boston's Best), gluten-free, New England clam chowder.

Though I prefer my chowder a bit more on the heavy side, I thought Turner's presented one that was OK in the flavor department.  For a gluten-free (rice flour is substituted) variety, it was nice and the group generally thought it was a good 'summer chowder' because it lacked the heavy base.

Audrey then moved us along Newbury Street where she really wowed me and my friend (the two Boston-dwellers) with two very interesting 'hidden' specialty shops!  

It's always a thrill to discover a business on Newbury that maybe you've passed by dozens of times.

Sabatini & Co.

This is the type of chic shop in which you can spend quite some time perusing, tasting, and sampling their unique products.  

Everything from truffles and tapenades to flavored rock salts/sugars and even organic skincare products is at your fingertips at Sabatini&Co!

Check out Sabatini & Co for personal and gifting items.

Boston Olive Oil Company:

I was so excited about this shop that I took another friend there the very next day!

The Blood orange EVOO was wonderful with obvious bright citrus notes.

Yet another shop where time can get away from you, Boston Olive Oil Company sells an enormous variety of EVOOs and aged Balsamic vinegars!  

The entire shop is set as a tasting bar and trust me, many of the flavors are simply incredible!  Bread is provided for dipping.

The EVOOs range in intensity of taste from 1-10.

Some of my favorite Balsamic vinegars included:

Coconut
Dark Chocolate
Honey Ginger
LemonGrass Mint
Pineapple
Peach
Pumpkin
Tangerine
and
Wild Blueberry

Click on the links above for pairing tips!

Our final stop...

...M Bar at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel  for a little dessert!

M Bar served beautiful, molecular gastronomical desserts in an equally beautiful space.

My friend and I paired our desserts with M Bar's creative cocktails:

Left: Jasmine Dragon  Right: Blueberry Shandy

The Jasmine Dragon was made with jasmine-infused Beefeater gin, cherry puree, St. Germain, and passion fruit.  The Blueberry Shandy was a mix of fresh blueberries, orange, Privateer white rum, lemon juice, Velvet Falernum, and Hoegaarden.  Both were refreshing with a great mixing of flavors!

 

Who doesn't love a dessert that requires a bit of a show?  The strawberry "shortcake" (vanilla cream, strawberry ice cream, and sable crumbs) served in a tall glass was drizzled by the staff with strawberry juice!

Hazelnut & Vanilla Bavarian Cream: mango caviar, hazelnut dacquoise, and popcorn ice cream

Coconut Parfait: passion fruit cream, caramel rum gelee, and nutmeg crunchy merengue

Blueberry panna cotta: peanut butter cake, lemon & honey fluid gel, and lemon sorbet

Boston Foodie Tours' Beacon Hill + Back Bay tour was a whirlwind of fun and amazing foods and facts!  Audrey really showed us all a great time and I am SO looking forward to attending more tours in the near future.

To set up or join a tour group, head to BFT's website for tickets!

Boston Foodie Tours also offer tours of Harvard Square, Little Italy (North End/Faneuil Hall), and The Rose Kennedy Greenway!

Disclosure:  I received Press passes to attend this tour.