Food Tasting & Cultural Walking Tour With Carmel Food Tours

If you are following Diva Likes, you know by now that my dear husband and I had a wonderful weekend experience in Carmel-By-The-Sea. Among the so many things we did over that particular weekend, the most interesting part was exploring the historic downtown Carmel via food tasting and cultural walking tour. All this was possible with Carmel Food Tours. This tour was all about taking a leisure stroll through the heart of Carmel, tasting specially selected variety of foods and wine from local restaurants and boutique shops and getting acquainted with the unique history and culture of this magical city. So let me take you through our journey of culinary hedonism!

DOWNTOWN CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

We were given the instructions about the meeting point in our e-ticket. The meeting point is the beautiful courtyard in front of the main entrance to Carmel's Sunset Cultural Center, located on San Carlos Street across from the Carmel Woman's Club. We arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled tour time of 11 AM and met our tour guide, Tracy. She was friendly and very active. There were about 12 members with us on the tour that day. After a formal round of introductions and heads-up about the tastings planned for the day, we headed on this three-hour guided 1.5-mile walking tour of Carmel's most interesting attractions. Our first stop was a modern European restaurant - Anton & Michel. As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were mesmerized by the pool and fountain view it provides. It is perfect for a romantic evening with your loved one. We were served a light starter of boiled vegetables along with wine tasting. It was a perfect way to kick-start the long day ahead!

ANTON & MICHEL

 

Our second stop is my most favorite restaurant in the tour and it is none other than Casanova restaurant which is Carmel's most romantic restaurant. The entire set up of the restaurant is cozy and full of love. Not just a lover's paradise, but it is an ideal place to plan family and friends lunch gathering as well. We were all seated in an authentic room setting with beautiful decor providing the right ambiance for a romantic setup. Then arrived the most delicious food of the day - Spinach Gnocchi. It is undoubtedly one of the tastiest vegetarian dishes I ever tasted and was finger-licking good.

CASANOVA RESTAURANT

In no time, we had to start towards our next destination which is Affina Food & Wine Restaurant. This restaurant cum wine bar is the happening local restaurant and is the perfect place to hang out with a bunch of friends over mouth-watering food and bottle of wine. While tasting their specialty dish Stuffed Squash Blossoms, we enjoyed some good music played by a young musician. All in all, it was great to visit this popular restaurant of Carmel.

AFFINA FOOD & WINE RESTAURANT

We made our fourth stop at Trio Carmel which specializes in Olive Oil and Vinegar. Visiting this place was a unique experience for us as we have never been to olive oil tasting. Though it felt weird at first, tasting different kinds of olive oil is an enriching experience in itself. In addition to that, tasting ice cream scoops topped with olive oil was first of its kind for me. It was fun to do something we have never done before and thanks to this food tour that we were able to do this.

TRIO CARMEL

Later, we were walking through the interesting lanes and courtyards of Carmel to reach Terry's Lounge at The Cypress Inn. This place is famous for its old world charm and classic cocktails. The look of the restaurant is quite huge and the interiors are excellent. If you are in Carmel and plan to have a family dinner, you must consider this place surely. All of us were seated in a small room where there was a huge table set up for us. We were served yummy Meat Balls along with Ginger Ale Mocktail. It felt like heaven when we tasted it. I would give a big thumbs up for the quality of food they maintain.

TERRY'S LOUNGE AT THE CYPRESS INN

It was the time when the wine drinkers in the tour wanted some wine tasting, and exactly then we went to Figge Cellars. Figge Cellars and Winfield Gallery together provide the right combination of wine and art. While we were served some wine tastings at Figge Cellars, we took a quick tour of Winfield Gallery where we saw some amazing art pieces. I never thought wine and art go hand-in-hand, but it was a treat to watch some artwork while tasting wine.

FIGGE CELLARS

Last but not the least, we stopped at Carmel's most famous Lula's Chocolates. Ever since we arrived in Carmel, we have heard a lot of Lula's Chocolates and this visit fulfilled our dream. Lula's Chocolates named after Lula herself are chocolates made in the old-fashioned way. Their chocolates are hand-dipped, small batch and deliciously fresh. We tasted two varieties of chocolates which were worth savoring and took back home a few packs for friends and family.

LULA'S CHOCOLATES

And that was the end of our culinary journey in the streets of Carmel. It was a fantastic experience to tour seven different eateries and speciality shops coupled with insightful presentations of Carmel's cultural, historical, and architectural highlights provided by our knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide Tracy. All the while during our tour, Tracy was alert and attentive to our needs. She made sure that we know about the history of Carmel and shared many interesting facts about the place. It was nice hanging out with her.

So next time you plan a visit to Carmel, take this walking food tour worth $69 each to familiarize yourself with history, culture, sights and outstanding culinary offerings of beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea. You can even let them know any dietary restrictions when you purchase tickets for your tour. For more details, do visit their website www.carmelfoodtour.com.