With her extensive travel records and her passion for food, McAvoy knew she was completely capable of taking on the challenge.
First tapping into the Dunedin market, McAvoy began curating tours in Tampa as well as St. Pete. She, or a trusty guide, tours a group of 12 around the selected city, sharing historical tidbits and the stories behind other popular establishments that didn’t make it on the tour's agenda.
McAvoy’s mission is to raise awareness to locals of the independent gems that are in Tampa Bay.
Her hope is for attendees to revisit tour destinations and even become regular customers.
These tours aren’t quite marketed for tourists (though they're welcomed with open arms). “The establishments I’ve partnered with are using these tours as a marketing tool as well, to capture the attention of a local and turn it into a long-term relationship,” she says.
When McAvoy reached out with an invitation, I wondered if I needed to go on a tour of Tampa Bay. Afterall, I was born and raised in Pinellas and have lived in Hillsborough County for nearly five years.
But, dammit, who can turn down a chance to maybe learn what they don't know about their hometown food scene?
After considering the Dunedin Food Tour, the Riverwalk Dine & Wine Tour, and the St. Pete Beach Drive Dine & Wine Tour, I landed on Dunedin — being that I’ve visited the charming town seldomly, and wanted to see what all the hype was about.
The three-hour tour guides attendees through Dunedin, stopping at local independent hotspots to sample and sip selected offerings that the concepts feel best represent their brands.
Upon booking the tour, I was emailed my itinerary along with details of where to park for free and meet up with the crew.
Comfortable shoes were advised for the two-mile walking adventure.
Lucky Lobster was the rendezvous point, which was a short walk down the Pinellas Trail from the free parking garage located behind Nature’s Food Patch.
After dodging a heavy flow of bicyclists and the occasional stroller, I made it to Lucky Lobster, asked the host where I could find the food tour and was directed to a large group of people:
A family of three from Tampa, with in-laws visiting from New Hampshire, two couples who lived locally, and a few culinary students who were on break from their internship in Winterhaven.
I looked around and realized I was the only participant flying solo, which made me realize I might’ve made a huge mistake.
Then McAvoy hustled over, introducing herself as well as others near me to give me some instant friends.
The server followed-up quickly after, sharing the list of complimentary drinks that were included on the tour — draft beers, tea or a Southern Comfort-based cocktail, Southern Hurricane.
Wanting to make this a true tour experience, I went for the Southern Hurricane, which turned out to be sweeter than I anticipated.
On this stop, the bites were slices of LL’s shrimp, lobster and smoked gouda pizza.
I could see my fellow attendees going for second and third slices, but I couldn’t make it past the first bite — too doughy, and although I’m a huge fan of seafood, I don’t believe it belongs on pizza.
As everyone was chowing down, McAvoy and her guide counterpart, Alex Hill, introduced themselves while giving a quick rundown of the day’s events.
Following LL, we’d grab to-go from Carvor’s Fish House, drink pours from Cueni Brewing Co., a shot at Cotherman Distilling Co., a bite at Hog Island Fish Camp, a taco from Sea Sea Riders and finish up with dessert and coffee at Bon Appetit.
Being that the tour is all-inclusive, tickets ring in at $72 per person.
We’d be spending about 30-minutes at each location; certain joints would throw in a free alcoholic beverage, and some would be on our own dime if we needed to have a brew.
As I contemplated how I was going to make it through the tour without a buddy, Hill announced an ice-breaker exercise: “it totally won’t be awkward or anything.”
Great.
We played two truths and a lie, followed by introducing ourselves and describing what we were hoping to get out of the tour.
I cringed, and pushed through, realizing that everyone else felt equally as awkward.
Hill went on to share that Dunedin businesses are 85% women-owned, and the city has seven bustling breweries — technically eight with Dunedin Brewery’s Antibrewery — and how we would get a sense of the community’s vibe during our affair.
Moving to our second location, McAvoy and Hill led us to Carvor’s to grab our to-go bites of fresh scallops and she-crab.
While making our way around the town, we got the scoop on the origin of the variations of sweating oranges painted on over 90 buildings.
I found myself learning more about Dunedin than I anticipated.
Once we got to Cueni Brewing, co-owner Jon Cueni greeted us with 2 oz. pours of their in-house brews — Aloha Wit, a Belgium ale with pineapple, and an Irish red ale, cleverly named Kiss Me, I’m Irish Red.
Cueni gave his elevator pitch in the garage-like brewery, sharing that the company had opened nearly three years ago and offers 10 selections on tap, while we ate our tapas portions of scallops and crab.
(For those who have certain food allergies or do not care for seafood, chicken and salad options are available at each stop, although I wouldn’t recommend the Dunedin tour to someone who isn’t fond of seafood.)
Before we headed out to Hog Island, McAvoy polled the group to see who wanted hogfish sliders and who wanted to take down an entire fried fish.
This was going to be a true team building experience.
But first, a shot at Cotherman Distilling Co., where the small distillery poured up sample shots of their handcrafted spirits.
While we made our way to Hog Island Fish Camp, I could see the crowd.
But there was no need to wait; wherever our tour was guided, McAvoy seamlessly introduced our group to the owner and we were seated immediately.
Each check was taken care of out of sight and out of mind — this was a smooth operation.
Myself and two other women were pushed to the end of the reserved table on the patio at Hog Island.
“You know I never eat these types of things, but I want to experience it, this is a good opportunity to try new things,” said my adventurous foodie counterpart, Elise Sweeney, as we waited for our fish.
The fried fish arrived, surrounded with shrimp and mussels.
Damn, I chose wisely.
We cleaned the fish, and picked each seafood morsel from the plate — it was by far my favorite stop on the tour.
As we hustled from one stop to the next, with new ice-breaker topics introduced, slowly we moved from cliques to one cohesive group.
Maybe it was Mcavoy’s infectious personality — or maybe it was the booze — either way, we were having a good time.
The most disappointing stop was at Sea Sea Riders. Although my counterparts seemed to have devoured their chicken tacos, I, however, was not impressed.
Maybe I’m high-maintenance, or maybe I just expected more from a restaurant that was giving me a snapshot of what they had to offer.
Once I realized I was hopelessly lost, I sought out a valet attendant who brought me to the host stand to be escorted back to my tour group.
Thankfully, everyone is in on the tour details, so whether you get sidetracked or accidentally left behind, you can find your way back.
We were placed in a dining room at Bon Appetit with an incredible view of the water, poured the signature coffee brew imported from Austria and were able to choose from their variety of parfait-like desserts.
As the group began to wind down from the day, our final instructed topics of discussion were our favorite bites from the tour followed by the first concert we ever went to.
Conversation erupted, alliances were formed based on music taste and I was kicked to the curb by dint of my first experience being a Backstreet Boys concert.
Overall, the Dunedin tour turned out to be surprisingly educational, and gave attendees an opportunity to step out of their comfort zones.
Although not each stop was an incredible experience, the tour overall offers great bang for your buck, and a great curated way to explore your city.
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This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2019.