“Whenever a person travels, the first thing they ask is what is good to eat,” says Candice, who came from New York to the United States to visit Nice. Every city should have a tour of this type, it’s better than a search on the Internet ”.
The lawyer, who is used to traveling, talks about the No Diet Club, a food tour set up in Nice for three years and which has just relaunched its season. On the menu, a local guide takes the group, of a maximum of eight people, to seven different locations, which offer vegetarian options, to explore the city. “It’s the best way to get to know a place,” says Manon, from The Hague in the Netherlands, who has been coming to the Côte d’Azur for twenty years.
The ingredients of a food tour succeeded
The little ingredient that changes everything for a recipe that works: the guide. Caesar was born in Nice, he grew up there and spent most of his life there. “It feels like a group of friends exploring a city,” comments the Dutchwoman. We don’t feel like a tourist ”. Her friend Anna adds: “We weren’t expecting that, it’s more than just going from restaurant to restaurant”.
Indeed, the guide makes them stroll through the unmissable places, Place Garibaldi, Old Nice, the Promenade des Anglais, while making historical and anecdotal points according to his experience and his knowledge. So it’s not just food in this food tour.
“Inevitably, the participants will eat pissaladière, pan-bagnat and stuffed from Nice, knowing why it is a local specialty,” explains César. But we add a little touch when we visit the kitchen and see the oven where the socca is made, or when we stop at Oli Donato to learn more about the manufacture of olive oil or white truffle ” .
For tourists but not only
Candice, Manon and Anna are delighted. “It gives a different taste to the city that we have known for years”, exclaims the latter. To choose the places, it is a collaboration between the creators, one of whom is from Nice, and the guides. “We have the prism of quality. Then, it is a balance between the local and the discovery of the best restaurants, even if they do not make specialties of Nice ”. Thus, Anna tasted the “best burger of her life” at Bubu’s.
L’Azuréen adds: “I started last year. It was a friend who did it and I wanted to seize the opportunity because I had always dreamed of doing that, tourist guide to discover my city. It is a real moment of sharing, meeting and discussion. It’s a human experience more than a job. And even if most are tourists, foreigners or French, it happens that locals lend themselves to the game. When I talk about it around me, everyone wants to test! “
The gastronomic walk lasts three and a half hours for 55 euros per person, but it is above all “a lot of food, culture and laughter”, concludes Manon.
