Food Tour of Creative Boston: Roots, Rhythms, and Revolutions
Born and raised locally, and now a longtime Boston resident and world traveler, Will has a passion for learning what makes each place in the world unique. He's now sharing with you what makes this city thrive, where we've been in the past, and where we're headed in the future. Highlighting both major historical events and lesser-known stories, he's curating uniquely local experiences. Through this, he's connecting what it's like to live here with global themes such as food history, industry, climate change, and urban design.
Pickup
We’ll meet inside Farmers Horse Coffee in the back patio, you’ll enter the doors, turn to the right, and pass through another door to the covered patio seating. You'll see me with a blue hat and/or holding a small Polaroid camera, at the tables. The closest train stations are the Orange Line “Massachusetts Avenue”, and the Green Line E Brach “Symphony” and Green Line B, C, and D branches “Hynes Convention Center”. Landsdowne Commuter Rail and Back Bay Amtrak and Commuter Rail stations are a moderate walk away.
Description
Step away from the tourist traps and savor the tastes, sights, and sounds on the more local and creative side of Boston!
Across hundreds of years of history, our unique culture of food, art, and music has kept this city going through it all, and has made an impact at a global scale.
When you think of Boston, you might think of the American Revolution, world-class universities, or championship-winning sports teams. But when you get to know Boston's often under-appreciated role in food systems both historically and today, as well as how we've sustained a culture of creative innovation, you can't help but agree that this is a "wicked cool" place unlike any other.
You'll hear stories like how Aerosmith became popular while practicing in their Allston apartment (after coming together when working at an ice cream shop), while music attorney and ice cream connoseur Bob Rook's homemade ice cream in a Coolidge Corner basement became a mainstay for local and touring musicians (named after Rook's pro-bono clients and unhoused neighbors, Emack & Bolio). Or how residents came together in to share their cattle in 1776 to feed the fight for independence from England, or to grow their own food during World War II with the Fenway Victory Gardens, and how today's Bostonians are establishing more and more food forests and urban farms to keep food sovereignty at the community level. And so much more!
We'll start by touring the historic arts neighborhood of Fenway, adjacent the Back Bay and near Jazz Square in the South End. We'll make our way to Allston Rock City by taking an express train for one stop. After some sights and tastes in Allston, we'll finish the tour with numerous options for music venues to check out in Allston or a short tram ride back to near where we started.
For food, we'll stop at 4-5 local food businesses surrounded by public art, community gardens, music venues and more.
With shared plates and some individual orders, food costs are pay-as-we-go, and you can expect $15-25 of food each. Tipping your guide well at the end allows us to pay for some people to join in a spirit of mutual aid with their food costs covered (and to be able to eat as a guide too)!