A Culinary Adventure through Newport and Boston

Day One

Today we journey to beautiful Newport, Rhode Island where you meet up with a knowledgeable local guide who will accompany you on your culinary adventure for the next four days. Our first stop brings us to the Matunuck Oyster Bar & Farm in Matunuck, RI. Here you will have the opportunity to put on waders and walk into the water getting up close and personal with the oysters. We learn how shellfish are cultivated in local waters and how they differ in stages of development. Discover the right (and safe way) to shuck oysters and nibble on tasty samples along with a sparkling beverage. We depart for our Newport area hotel and check in for the next two evenings. Dinner will be included this evening at a local restaurant.

Day Two

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we board the coach for a day of touring. This morning we travel to the Kenyon Grist Mill to learn about their production of white corn meal and enjoy a Johnny Cake cooking demonstration (you’ll then get to sample the delicious treats served with maple butter and coffee). We make our way back to Newport for free time and lunch on your own. Visit the many shops and restaurants located along the waterfront and historic Brick Marketplace. Following lunch we travel to Newport Vineyards for a guided tour and tasting. This 100-acre property is a world renowned wine, culinary and craft beer destination. Dinner will be included this evening at a local restaurant.

Day Three

Following breakfast at the hotel, we board the coach and journey to Boston, Massachusetts. Our first stop today brings us to the We continue to Boston and arrive at Quincy Market in time for you to enjoy lunch and shopping on your own. This afternoon we enjoy a cruise on the Charles River. See Beacon Hill, MIT, Cambridge and Harvard on this wonderful cruise. This evening we check into our Boston hotel where we spend the next two evenings. Dinner is included at a local restaurant or at the hotel. (B,D)

Following breakfast at the hotel, we board the coach and journey to Boston, Massachusetts. Our first stop today takes us to the Boston Public Market where we will have time to visit with some of the vendors offering delicious foods from around the state. Following our visit we make our way a short distance to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall where you will have time to enjoy lunch and shopping on your own. This afternoon we enjoy a 70 minute fully-narrated cruise along the Charles River. Your captain and crew will both entertain and educate while pointing out the historic and cultural sights of Boston and Cambridge including: Beacon Hill, Esplanade Park, the Back Bay, Boston University, MIT, Harvard and the countless rowers. This evening we check into our Boston area hotel for the next two evenings. Dinner will be included this evening at a local restaurant.

Day Four

This morning we enjoy breakfast at the hotel before departing for Boston’s famed North End for a culinary tour beyond compare. The secret of Italian cuisine is the high quality of ingredients, a sense of regional tradition, and that very Italian love of life. Sources for ingredients abound in the narrow streets of the North End. But for the outsider, finding the finest is not always easy. Join us on the original award-winning North End Market Tour and let us unlock for you the secrets of the cuisine and of America’s oldest Italian neighborhood. Discover the pasticcerias that offer the best biscotti, amaretti, sfogliatelle, cassata, taralli, cannoli and other confections. Visit an authentic salumeria in search of the best olive oil, balsamic vinegar, olives, salami, cheese, prosciutto and pasta. Savor the scents of a 70-year-old coffee and spice shop and an Old World candy store. Learn and be inspired by how the Mediterranean diet has influenced peoples’ health since antiquity. Tour an enoteca to learn how to select aperitivi to begin, wine to complement, and digestivi to conclude your meal. Enjoy the colorful sights, the tantalizing aromas and authentic tastes of America’s most vibrant Italian neighborhood. Relive memories, perhaps of holidays past, of growing up in an Italian household. Learn and be inspired by how the Mediterranean diet has influenced people’s health since antiquity. Understand how the Italians adapted their dishes to their new country and created the familiar Italian-American cuisine. The North End Market Tour has been designed to reflect Michele Topor’s passion for all things Italian. Trained as a professional chef, Michele has taught cooking, catered, and consulted on Italian food since 1979. Michele’s cooking classes, market tours and culinary trips to Italy have been featured on television (including the Food Network, HGTV and CNN), on the radio, and in various national and international publications. Following the tour, a traditional Italian lunch will be served at one of the North End’s finest restaurants. This afternoon we travel to Boston’s famed Sam Adam’s Brewery for a guided tour and tasting. Dinner is on your own this evening at one of Boston’s fine restaurants.

Day Five

After breakfast, we board the coach for home with many fond memories of our Newport and Boston Culinary Adventure.

Inclusions:

Two night’s accommodations – Newport, Rhode Island area

Two night’s accommodations – Boston area

Three dinners – Four full breakfasts – Lunch in Boston’s North End

Guided Oyster Experience and Tasting

Admission to Kenyon Grist Mill and Johnny Cake Experience

Admission to Newport Vineyards

Visit to Boston Public Market, Quincy Market & Fanueil Hall

Admission to Charles Riverboat cruise **you may chose a Boston Harbor Cruise as an alternative

Guided culinary tour of Boston’s North End