Almost Spring!

Colorful and delicious bites popping up all over Salem. Shown here: Tour Partner Caramel Patisserie, carries a variety of delicious macaron flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, almond, pistachio, lemon, raspberry, salted caramel and early grey, as well as seasonal flavors. These gluten free treats made by Chef Dimitri Vallier have a creamy ganache and a light crunch.
Planning a spring event? Contact them to create a perfect Macaron Tower for your special gathering.

On a recent Food Tour, chef Gary Hammer of Bit Bar Salem prepared a delicious tasting of their inventive and fresh cuisine, including his take on a ‘Surf and Turf’ plate with their outstanding Tuna Tartare with avocado, Maitland Mountain Farm (of Salem) kimchi, and Steak with Korean BBQ sauce.
(left) Bit Bar’s new homemade cannolis with whipped lemon ricotta (highly recommend!)

Salem Spring Restaurant Week

Sunday, March 12 – Thursday, March 16 & Sunday, March 19 – Thursday, March 23
Salem Spring Restaurant Week kicks off on Sunday, March 12th!  Participating restaurants – including our Tour Partners Finz, Firenze Trattoria (offering a daily rotating 2 course chefs menu), Koto Grill & Sushi, Life Alive, Nat’s at the Hawthorne Hotel, Opus, and Sea Level offer multiple choices for appetizers, entrees as well as desserts. Reservations are encouraged, please contact the restaurants directly. Please mention “Restaurant Week” when making your reservations.

Voting is now open for the 2017 BONS awards – vote and support your favorite local shops and restaurants.

Welcome back…

Melt Ice Cream reopened for the season on March 3rd. They are now taking ice cream cake orders as well.  We have MISSED their Coffee ice cream (the best we’ve ever had!), and Maple Bourbon, and can’t wait to try their Green Tree Ice Cream. Click here to watch video.

Salem Spirits Trolley 
Sunday April 23rd: Our sister Tour, the Salem Spirits Trolley, offers their first public Tour of 2017.  Interested in having them craft a special corporate private excursion? Contact info@salemspiritstrolley.com for group details (max 30 guests.)
Tour Partner pairings!

• Sun March 26th: The Cheese Shop of Salem pops up at Far From the Tree

Photo right: new menu item for March at the Naumkeag Ordinary: Rosemary- Parmesan polenta fries with a citrus aioli.

Food Tour News…
Join us on an upcoming Tour and discover delicious #SalemMa.  Upcoming dates include   Saturday March 26th.

And on April 2nd join us on a special Vegan Food Tour with acclaimed vegan travel writer Kristin Lajeunesse of Will Travel for Vegan Food. Kristin has just returned from a 6 month journey of Europe and Asia, and will be sharing her stories first hand as well as sharing delicious travel tips.
(photo courtesy Will Travel for Vegan Food) “Hands down best vegan burger in Chiang Mai goes to this beetroot-based monster from Beast Burger.”  

Tour Partner News

We are pleased to share the excited news that a new culinary multi-use retail space and commercial space is opening on Pickering Wharf.

Opening in late March, 62 Pickering Wharf will be the new home of Salem Spice. It will also house The Branch Olive Oil Company whose flagship location is at the NorthShore Mall, and be a site and event location for Salem Food Tours and Salem Spirits Trolley.  Salem GNU Kitchen, the new on-site community kitchen space, will open late spring 2017.  It will be managed by Salem GNU co-owner Chef Roy Bene’. Read more here.
We warmly welcome The Branch Olive Oil Company onto our list of Tour Partners, and look forward to sharing information on their ultra premium extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars.

Event: March 27th: No Hungry Kid with Serie Keezer of Sea Level Oyster Bar & Kitchen and Finz Seafood and Grill, who will join a couple other Salem Chefs and many more across the state, to put a dent in childhood hunger.

Location Partner News
Plan ahead and join us as we continue to support our fantastic local museums/historic homes!

• Sunday April 23rd Spring Stroll benefiting the Philips House Museum. Join Salem Food Tours on a special cheese, wine, sweet and spice tasting excursion. $40pp.
• Saturday June 3rd “A Taste of Derby Street” Food Tour benefitting the House of Seven Gables. $60pp

And warm welcome to our newest Location Tour Partner:
Salem Food Tours warmly welcomes the renowned Hamilton Hall as our newest Location Tour Partner.
Designed in 1805 by Samuel McIntire, the beautiful Hall is widely recognized as one of the most important Federal buildings in America. A popular wedding and corporate event venue, it has been in use as an assembly hall for cultural and social events for over two hundred years.  They also hosts lecture and concert series and more. Join them on Saturday April 8th for the 1st Annual Resistance Ball. With fiddlers, dancing, victuals and libations, proceeds from the event support the ongoing preservation of Hamilton Hall.  This event is one of a series of events marking the anniversary of Leslie’s Retreat.
On Sunday March 26th Location Tour Partner The Pickering House will host a lecture by Peter Charles Hoffer, author of Prelude to Revolution: The Salem Gunpowder Raid of 1775.