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Manhattan Beach Old…
6 reviews
Neighborhood: Manhattan Beach
Category: Local Flavor
Melting Pot Food Tours
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Wed. 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Sun. 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
10 reviews for Melting Pot Food Tours
We had a wonderful time. It was so much fun to go about the farmers market and surrounding area and taste a little bit of everything, while learning the history of the shops, restaurants and local area. I highly recommend it for all ages!
Our tour guide, Diane, was a perfect hostess for this event! She was knowledgeable, friendly, & thoroughly organized. The food tasting was wonderful & the group of 12 was the perfect size to get to meet people & interact. My girlfriend & I enjoyed walking through the Grove after our tour & then dining at a Japanese restaurant which served delicious food. I highly recommend this tour to anyone! Looking forward to the new "old" Pasadena tour in the near future!!
It's funny how one can live in a place for a long, long time, and never really take advantage of everything that is available. This tour is a case in point. I have gone to Farmer's Market many, many times, but I can honestly claim ignorance until I took this wonderful tour.
Diane was knowledgeable, fun, and responsive. The food was great, and it really opened up new horizons for me.
This will not be the last melting pot tour I will take. It has my highest recommendation, both for those new to LA, and those of us who have taken it for granted.
This is a great thing to do whether you're a local or a tourist. And especially if you're a local who is entertaining a tourist! No matter what you are to LA, this is a great way to spend an afternoon. You learn some great stories about the area you're visiting, get to try some great food (if you're vegan like me, tell them ahead of time and the accommodate very nicely), all while walking off your newly acquired calories.
Definitely fun and I'm looking forward to their new route launching soon in Pasadena ; )
Okay, it's true, I am a nerd. But I'm a nerd with pride so I had never taken advantage of any kind of educational tour of Los Angeles. I generally prefer to ride by the seat of my pants when it comes to tourism.
Now I am a remorseful nerd because I can honestly say I wish I had taken one of these tours sooner!
I've been living in Los Angeles for 3.5 years now and have played host to my east coast friends many times already. This time I opted to let someone else do the explaining and signed us up for the Mid-City walking tour that starts and ends at 3rd and Fairfax. I got a discount on the Goldstar events website, but I would have paid full price.
Our guide, Diane, was very cool. The tour lasts over 3 hours, but you have no opportunity to get bored because she always has cool and funny factoids to share. Skip breakfast and don't make any lunch plans as you will be sampling a plethora of culinary delights in and around the area. It's a walking tour and you will cover a few miles, but it's all flat and I would recommend this for pretty much any age group although small children may not have the attention span or the requisite stomach capacity.
Some of our tour highlights:
The farmer's market at the Grove, Little Door, Little Next Door, Kiss My Bundt bakery, Joan's on 3rd, Chado Tea Room, and more!
My sister was visiting from out of town, and I was looking for cool walking tours when this popped up on my Yelp search. What a fantastic find! 3.5 hours of fun information and tasty samples, enough to keep you from needing breakfast beforehand or lunch afterwards. I've been to the Farmer's Market several times, and had never seen some of the places that were showcased, such as Monsieur Marcel and its caviar cheese (I'm planning on going back to buy some, it sounds divine!). There's a decent amount of walking, but it's an easy pace with several stops for water and treats. Diane, a freelance chef and food stylist, was a fantastic tour guide, who obviously had great relationships with the owners/employees of all the places we visited. Great way to sample some wonderful food among the dozens, if not hundreds of food establishments, in the area!
Do you know what else is great about having a company like Melting Pot Tours, run by sisters and co-owners, Lisa and Diane Scalia, around? With LA being as big as it is, it's intimidating getting to know the dining scene. What Melting Pot Tours could offer is a way to help local residents get a chance to step out of their comfort zone and/or even their own neighborhood to start exploring the culinary bonanza that abounds in LA County. The same could be said for visitors or tourists, who may share the same intimidation factor of trying to weed through the LA's extensive foodie landscape. With a food tour, they can get a taste of LA to start and like local residents, this opportunity could also springboard them into wanting to learn more about what Los Angeles has to offer to the discerning diner.
After reading about Melting Pot Tours on a couple of blogs, I decided to check it out for myself, so this morning I embarked on their Farmer's Market and 3rd Street Food Tour. First off, when I met both sisters, Lisa and Diane, I absolutely loved their energy and passion for what they were doing. The tour started at the original Farmer's Market where we first heard a little history of how the Farmer's Market started and how it came to be in its present state.
After that, the tasting bounty started at Bob's Doughnuts where we had doughnuts. What was great is that it just wasn't about the food, it was also about the history and/or information about that particular food stall or restaurant. For example, I learned that Bob's Doughnuts employees start making doughnuts at 4:30 am and that they are made from yeast. At Monsieur Marcel, we sampled cheese, olives and bread, but were also told the strange tale of the Caviar Cheese. Nope, I'm not going to give the story away. You'll just have to find out yourself when you go on the tour. Sampling stops were also made at Thee Bakery and Littlejohn Toffee.
We also made some stops where we didn't have a tasting, but we learned a little more information about a particular vendor. For example, at Huntington Meats, they actually bring their lamb in whole from Colorado and break it down there and that way, they get all the best portions for their customers. At Light My Fire, some of their hot sauces are so hot, you actually have to sign a waiver before purchasing them. Blanche Magee of Magee Nut House, noticed the gathering of the farmers to sell their wares in 1934 and was the first to sell them sandwiches. Stop by there to watch employees make fresh peanut butter onsite.
When we got to Pampas Grill, we were able taste their deep fried yuca fries, a couple of their BBQ meats and their cheese bread. However, Diane shared with us from the owner of Pampas Grill that we should split the cheese bread, add a little hot sauce and then put the meat in the bread -- just like a Brazilian BBQ slider. Yum!
Pampas Grill was the last of our tasting journey at the Original Farmer's Market before we took a stroll down 3rd Street where our guides gave us some info on some of the storefronts and the restaurants that lined the street. Our first tasting stop on the 3rd Street was at the Little Next Door where we had freshly baked that morning French macaroons. I enjoyed my lavendar macaroon to the last bite. Following the macaroons was a delicious Chinese chicken salad from Joan's on Third and then we visited Le Labo, French Perfumerie.
You're probably thinking what does a French Perfumerie have to do with a culinary tour? Well, as explained by our guides, the appreciation we have for our meal is in large portion due to its aroma. If food smells appetizing, that's half the battle. Instead of a food tasting, we did more of a sensory tasting where we got to sniff oils that are foodie-based and included individual samples of cucumber, cloves, grapefruit and a few others. Le Labo is interesting in that after talking with you, they will recommend a fragrance and than mix it for you right there onsite to take home.
The rest of our tasting tour included visiting the Cook's Library where you can browse over 7,000 cookbook titles, a tea sampling at Chado Tea Room and finally, soba noodles and sushi at Mishima.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience. Of course, the tasting part was wonderful, but even more than that, the great information that the sisters gave throughout our tour was really helpful. Also having some of the owners of the various shops come out and talk briefly to us about their business and their food was definitely a bonus. In the end, I am really looking forward to finding out what else Melting Pot Tours has in store for all of us and hopefully through them, locals and visitors alike will start getting a better appreciation of the wonderful LA foodie culture.
To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/...
A couple of months ago, my wife and I saw a group of happy tourists sampling treats at the Farmer's Market. We asked one what was going on and they said they were on this Melting Pot tour. Even though we live in the neighborhood, it looked like a good time, so we decided to check it out ourselves. And we are so happy we did!
Our guide, Diane, had built wonderful relationships with many of the players in the local food scene. She was very knowledgeable and genuinely excited to share the experience with us.
This is a fabulous way to entertain guests who are visiting LA or a fun way to get a deeper look at the food scene if you're already familiar with the area.
A couple of recommendations:
Don't bring anything heavy (my wife brought her handbag and she wished she hadn't...they give you a shopping bag on the tour to take home any leftovers).
Go hungry! You will be eating nonstop, as most of the vendors give samples and some of them are extremely generous with their portions.
This tour was eye-opening and delicious - definitely a tour for the senses! I grew up in the Los Angeles area, but I've only recently taken an interest in exploring my surroundings. As a frequenter of the LA Farmers Market, I never really did explore as much of the Market as I could have, but I was completely surprised and delighted by the history and information I got out of this tour. I wandered corners of this market I would've never thought to wander.
The faces we met on our tour were friendly, and everyone had a great time. I especially enjoy that our 'tour guides' were familiar and friendly with every person we were introduced to. They really opened up our senses to the great things 3rd & Fairfax has to offer. You'd never know it from driving right through the area, but there are gorgeous and fun places to eat and shop at.
Monsieur Marcel's to Littlejohn's Candies. Pampas Grill to Bob's Doughnuts. Cook's Library to Joan's on Third. Mishima to The Little Door. There's going to be something that everyone loves most, and the food tastings were excellent!
It's definitely a brilliant opportunity to get to know your city a bit better and find a real appreciation for the little thriving businesses tucked away in the nooks and crannies.
"Meet me at 3rd & Fairfax!"
My sister took me on this tour for my birthday because I'm an amateur foodie, and though I've lived here for 10 years, I still love to discover new things about LA. It was the PERFECT gift!
Of course I've been to the Fairfax Farmer's Market and The Grove a million times, but I'll never look at it the same way again. Now I know what that random gas pump is about, how long it takes to make the most delicious doughnut I've ever had, and why there's always a HUGE line at the Pampas Grill. We stopped at stall after stall, talking to the owners (some of which took over from their great-great grandparents), asking questions about their wares and EATING!! We tasted everything from olives to toffee to monkey bread! It's like breakfast and lunch are included in the price.
After the market, the three-and-a-half hour tour continued to 3rd Street as we walked towards the Beverly Center, learning about the history of the city, window-shopping at the unique stores, and eating even more! Highlights included a chat with the owner of The Cook's Library, meeting THE Joan of Joan's On Third while we noshed on her Chinese Chicken Salad, and spending a good two hours in LA without catching sight of a Starbucks.
The whole day was so much fun, and so well organized. All of the shop owners were prepared with plenty of samples (even some to take home), and seemed genuinely glad to see us. As they should be! On the walk back (though there is a bus option) my sister and I returned to the bookstore to pick up a few volumes, and I'll certainly be back to Joan's to see what a $9.95 pre-wrapped tuna sandwich tastes like.
Lisa, our tour guide and one of two proprietors, was a treat to spend time with. This tour is really the perfect option when you've got repeat guests in town who've already seen the sites, or just to get a fresh perspective and appreciation for the city you call home. According to their website they also do roaming dinners, and you're sure to catch me on one of them soon!
i never write reviews (i know, i know. everyone says that). but really! this is my first yelp review and it's absolutely necessary!! i couldn't have asked for more on this tour! i'd known for a couple months about melting pot tours and wasn't sure if it would be fun or better yet if there would really be that much yummy food. there was SO much food and the tour guide, diane, was awesome! i can't wait to go on another one! :D
