Started in 1991, Big Onion Walking Tours as of 2010 offers 28 distinct tours, five to seven days a week, year round. The company is known for its highly educated tour guides, all of whom have teaching experience and advanced degrees.
Guides learn specific neighborhoods rather than set routes and draw on their academics strengths, making each tour a unique experience. The Chinatown tour is delivered as a two hour conversation about the Asian experience. In addition to history, tour topics may include the Americanization of Chinese food or how business owners keep their businesses alive through multiple generations.
Timeout New York, Travel & Leisure and The Washington Post have all positively reviewed Big Onion.
Big Onion Walking Tours
476 13th St.
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
888-606-9255
bigonion.com
Foods of New York Tours has offered "food tasting and cultural walking tours" since 1999. It was one of the first New York City tours to combine historical walking tours with seated tastings. It offers five culture and food tours around New York. Established in 2008, Explore Chinatown: Food and Culture Walking Tour explores less-traveled streets and visits restaurants that serve well-prepared foods.
The tour commences in a restaurant for a dim sum tasting. This meal is followed by two more restaurant sittings where patrons eat other specialty Chinese foods like Peking Duck and Cantonese roasted eggplant. The three hour tour also visits historical and cultural landmarks and concludes with a tea tasting and an authentic dessert.
Media mentions include the New York Times, Time Out New York and NBC.
Foods of New York Tours Inc.
212-209-3370
foodsofny.com
Founded in 1975, the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is a prominent culinary school. In addition to its professional training, ICE offers recreational cooking classes and food tours around the city. ICE's tours are led by professional chefs who are also instructors at the institute.
ICE's Chinatown Dim Sum Tour focuses on small, individual portions of food prepared in the Cantonese style. The tour commences in a restaurant where patrons dine on a wide selection of traditional and specialty dim sum and engage in a tea tasting. During the tasting the guide discusses the history of the dim sum, specific regional ingredients and cooking techniques.
After the tasting, guests tour Chinatown, visiting historic sites, markets, food stalls and shops that represent the different cultures and dialects of Chinatown. Tours occur monthly and last approximately four hours.
Institute of Culinary Education
50 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
212-847-0700
iceculinary.com
