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Home » Travel » California » Carmel Food Tour: Best. Tour. Ever.

Carmel Food Tour: Best. Tour. Ever.

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The Carmel Food Tour was hands-down my favorite activity on my trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Our tour guide, Staci, was so knowledgeable about the area and had a great, dry sense of humor. (If you take this tour, see if you can request Staci as your guide!) We stopped at seven places to wine and dine, and each restaurant’s chef was kind enough to greet us and talk a little about their restaurant and philosophy.

Here were our stops in order (list and descriptions via CarmelFoodTour.com):

  1. Anton & Michel: Modern European with signature tableside service
  2. Affina Food | Wine: Adult comfort food – fresh, hip, & local
  3. Casanova Restaurant: Carmel’s most romantic restaurant, 34,000-bottle wine cellar
  4. Trio Carmel: Trio = olive oil/vinegar, art and wine!
  5. Terry’s Lounge at the Historic Cypress Inn: Classic cocktails and old world charm
  6. Caraccioli Cellars: Elegant, local wines
  7. Lula’s Chocolates: Locally-made confections, family owned for more than 100 years

The Beginning

We met outside the Sunset Center, which is Carmel’s hub for entertainment. They bring $1 million worth of acts to the stage every year, including dance, comedy, music, theater, and even Bollywood shows. A big renovation in recent years has made the Sunset Center’s acoustics nearly flawless, so people come from all over to see shows there.

Carmel Food Tour

Staci the tour guide is on the left in the red and black.

Our first stop on the tour was Anton & Michel, where we had Kobe short rib over polenta paired with a rosé pinot noir. The restaurant was recently renovated and it is absolutely beautiful.

Carmel Food Tour

Staci welcomes us to our first stop!

Carmel Food Tour

The stunning new interior at Anton & Michel

Carmel Food Tour

A lion chillin’ by the courtyard fountain

Next, we visited Affina. It had a modern rustic interior and an open kitchen concept. Chef James talked about how having a small space challenges him to use the freshest ingredients he can find since he doesn’t have the space to freeze or store things long-term.

Carmel Food Tour

Here we tasted a salad of local tomatoes, basil, and burrata cheese from Di Stefano Cheese. It was AMAZING. Almost everyone on the tour threw caution to the wind and finished the whole thing, even though we were supposed to save room for the rest of the tour. The wine was a viognier from Le P’tit Paisan.

Carmel Food Tour

Tomato, basil, and burrata salad with balsamic vinegar

Between stops, Staci talked a bit about some of the charming buildings around downtown Carmel, like this one, which looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale. There are many like this all around town, giving the city a unique charm.

Carmel Food Tour

Then was Casanova, which is said to be the most romantic restaurant in Carmel. Like pretty much everything else in town, it’s incredibly charming and picturesque.

Carmel Food Tour

Casanova’s exterior

Carmel Food Tour

Even the chef in the window is picturesque!

Carmel Food Tour

The covered patio dining area toward the back of the restaurant

Casanova served us my favorite meal of the day. We started with crispy breadsticks with tapenade for dipping, and the main event was gnocchi. But it wasn’t like any gnocchi I’d ever had before – in fact, it wasn’t even made with potatoes. It was French-style, made from spinach pâte à choux (a light dough). It was smothered in cheese sauce and baked in individual dishes. I ate every bite.

Carmel food tour

French-style spinach gnocchi

Carmel Food Tour

Van Gogh’s Table in the back of the restaurant was set with absinthe spoons and sugarcubes. Van Gogh sat at this exact table when it was at a restaurant in France.

Our next visit adventure was olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting at Trio Carmel, including an unexpectedly tasty spritzer of balsamic and soda water as well as green chile olive oil drizzled over vanilla bean gelato from Salumeria Luca. Yeah. I know. It was wicked.

Carmel Food Tour

Terry’s Restaurant & Lounge inside the Cypress Inn – famously dog-friendly and owned by Doris Day! – welcomed us with something a little different to drink: a classic old-fashioned instead. I don’t typically go for drinks from the whiskey family, but I must admit, I liked this one. The old-fashioned was served – and color-coordinated! – with an African-spiced meatball.
Carmel Food Tour

One of my favorite stops on this tour was Carraccioli Cellars, which is famous for sparkling wine, or as they called it, “bubbles”. I love any excuse to drink sparkling wine or champagne, so this was right up my alley. We had the distinct pleasure of trying a brut cuvée as well as a non-bubbly pinot noir. I really loved the crisp, dry, refreshing brut cuvée, and even thought about taking a bottle home with me. But then I remembered I already had to cram two other bottles into my tiny carry-on sized suitcase. Womp womp.Carmel Food Tour Carmel Food Tour Carmel Food Tour

We then arrived – alas – at our final destination, Lula’s Chocolates. We’d all been raving about Lula’s ever since receiving a Carmel-themed gift basket in advance of this trip that included a gift box of several sea salt caramels WHICH WERE AMAZING. Truly delicious and worth ordering online, if you and your waistline dare.
Carmel Food Tour

I am so grateful that I got to have this amazing food experience in Carmel. There is not much I enjoy more than food, drink, and learning new things, and to be able to do all three at once and in such a beautiful setting? Well, I consider myself very lucky.

About Liz

Liz is a midwestern mom gone southern (accent in transition). She lives in North Carolina and loves cooking, baking, traveling, movies, crafts, hot and cold tea, wine, pizza and the occasional nap. She also revels in the fact she's a crazy cat lady.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Kiwi says

    I did misread at first and thought this was the Caramel Food tour as I was gonna flip and say where?? Oopsies! This still look like a great food tour everything looked yummy!

    Reply

  4. Tiffany @ Daily Leisure says

    I’ve never been to Carmel (or heard of it)! This food tour looks so fun! I’ve also never been on a food tour, but think I might have to schedule one because that food looks amazing! I love that you get to sample a bunch of different places and dishes all in one trip! 🙂

    Reply

  19. Lisa Rios says

    Sounds like you had a wonderful food experience at Carmel. I always wanted to attend one such event, but never had a chance. The pictures are so beautiful & the food looks delicious as well.

    Reply

  31. Shell Feis says

    So I didn’t know that food tours were a thing and now that I know I am adding it to the top of my bucket list!! How fun is that! I am always down for a buffet and this is almost like that but with a cool new place to check out for each dish!

    Reply

  39. Crystal says

    Oh my goodness! It all looks so good. I am inspired by the idea of a small space and not storing things that are frozen or full of preservatives. Fresh is so often much healthier.

    Reply

  48. Terri Beavers says

    I would absolutely love to have gone on this food tour. Your photos are the next best thing to being there but I’d still love to see all there was to see and sample those tasty looking goods.

    Reply

  49. Rosey says

    I can see why it was a fave. Pretty sure I’d have felt the same way too. Loved reading about it and seeing your posts!

    Reply

  65. Ann Bacciaglia says

    A food tour would be so much fun. It looks like you had a great time. I will have to see if there is going to be one near me.

    Reply

  69. Shauna says

    No wonder you say it was the best… look at it all. HA! It all looks delicious and so beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing

    Reply

  72. Jeanine says

    This sounds like a really great tour! The photos are just stunning, I’d love to visit places as beautiful! The food looks great!

    Reply

  73. Stacie says

    I love the look of all the restaurants but especially Casanova. It’s so rustic looking. And the fact that they have Van Gogh’s table is awesome.

    Reply

  81. Michele says

    I don’t dare order those caramels–I would eat them all at one time from the way you described them!! I have never been to Carmel by the sea but have a feeling I and my taste buds would LOVE it.

    Reply

  85. Theresa says

    Carmel looks like the ideal place to visit. Quiet and charming, I would think! The food all looks amazing! I’m sure this is a tour you are always going to remember!

    Reply

  93. Jennifer says

    CanCan I just skip it all and have the chocolate? lol. For real, I would love to visit all of these places but especially d Affina. I love that he uses fresh ingredients.

    Reply

  98. Jeanette says

    I have read a few posts lately about this place and I can’t wait to check it out one day! There are so many things I want to try! I would LOVE to see that win seller and try all the food you did!

    Reply

  99. Kristi says

    We were just out there a year ago… loved the area. Now when I see your post about the tour it make me want to go back!

    Reply

  100. Karen says

    Kobe Short Ribs???? That was the starter?
    Spinach gnocchi? You know I love gnocchi!!!!
    Salted caramel chocolates?

    I’m (almost) literally drooling on my keyboard. Great review and great photos!

    Reply

  102. Megan says

    Looks like a fun and yummy day! That’s awesome you had a chance to try it, I’ll add it to my bucket list if I ever travel there. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  107. Jessica Harlow says

    It does look like such a charming town full of unique eateries and wineries! I would love to go on a tour like this although I’m sure I’d run out of room by the end! I’d have a hard time not finishing such amazing dishes!

    Reply

  109. Elizabeth O. says

    I love participating in food tours, I think it’s one of the best experiences ever. You learn a lot from it and you get to eat good food.

    Reply

  110. vidya sudarsan says

    I love Carmel by the sea! I did not know about the food tour.. wonder how much I can enjoy being a vegetarian, though! You have captured nice pictures and I enjoyed reading about this tour.

    Reply

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