Michele Topor, Inc.

I am a South Boston native so I thought I knew the North End! Our tour guide Dick taught me otherwise. Dick is a professional who gave us the historical perspective as well as the insider view of the local bakeries, butchers, grocerias and wine stores. My sisters and I loved it. The group is manageable so we could all fit in the small stores. It was obvious that the store owners loved having the tour and our guide. Everyone made you feel at home. We now have yet another reason to go back to the North End... we discovered a bakery, meat store, fish store, vegetable store , wine store and of course 30 more resturants we need to experiance and this time we will bring the husbands. There is a lot of standing yet many rest stops along the way. There are samples of a variey of foods and drinks as well. I would not reccomend this for children it really should be appreciated by adults. Also folks with back problems might mind the standing. Michele has put together an awesome experience, I would love to take her Italy tour. Thanks

After visiting the No End since the 80's, we decided to take the tour after seeing Michele on TV. We enjoyed the tour from start to finish and found ourselves discovering places that we had walked past on numerous occassions but never ventured inside. We enjoyed ourselves so much, that the followinfg day we returned to enjoy a late morning coffee and pastry , purchase cheese, bread, olives and meats and wine all at the shops we had visited the previous day . We had a great picnic by the harbor all with the foods we had discovered on the tour. We are now looking into the particulars of Michele's tour of Italy - after the success of the No End tour we are interested in a trip on a grander scale.

Dick was great, Thought we were gonna have Michelle given the tour description but Dick did a great job and knew what he was talking about

Thought the grocery stores were the most interesting and the information on the local history of the area very informative. Tour guide was very helpful and always willing to answer questions or find out the answers. It was diffficult to hear the tour guide at times as the group was somewhat large and the places were small. Shop owners were extremely friendly and recognized us after the tour as members of the tour earlier in the day! Very nice. Would recommend it to someone coming to the area.

we loved this tour! we had three kids with us, the youngest being a 14 boy. everyone enjoyed the tour, including our son. lots of facts and lots of tasting and lots of fun anecdotes. thanks michelle, we have already recommended your tour to friends who are going to boston soon.

I bought tickets for the tour of the North End (Little Itally) as a surprise to my wife who is a cooking enthusiast on our recent trip to Boston. My wife and I both throughly enjoyed it! Michelle's knowledge of Italian cuisine, culture, and the North End is incredible. The most surprising part about this tour was the fact that I enjoyed it. I'm not the cooking enthusiast that my wife is, but I still really enjoyed it. We both learned things about Italian food and culture that surprised us, and the North End of Boston is absolutely beautiful.

Michelle Topor is very well informed about everything Italian. She knows the history of the North End and provides a tour that both informs and teaches all the participants. This is a tour that everyone should take again because it is so informative and hard to absorb all the facts and information that she offers. This was one of the best tours I have ever taken anywhere. Those who sign up will not be disappointed.

My sister and I ventured out for the tour on a rainy Saturday morning, but the dampness in the weather did not seem to affect Michelle's enthusiasm and energy. We learned so much about the history of the North End in addition to her culinary insights, and the tastings were a real treat. I only wish I had taken the tour sooner!

As a younger guy who does love to cook, I was not sure how much I would enjoy this. I must say that it was a lot of fun and very informative. The area is very cool and there are great places to shop. I went away ready to cook real Italian food.

My wife and I took the tour on a slightly rainy Saturday morning, not sure what to expect. We found it to far exceed any expectations that we did have. Michelle was an excellent guide, sharing information about Italy, the North End, and the Italian's approach to food. The tastings added a nice touch. We spent the afternoon after the tour as well as part of another day exploring the neighborhood further and really began to "see" the neighborhood and understand the people and the North End. I no longer felt like a tourist. I would strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, italy, or food.

Michele Topor has all tthe qualities you'd hope for in a culinary tour guide: expertise from years as a chef, deep familiarity with the products, the traditions, and the people of the North End, and a knack for communicating what she knows. Her tour takes in seven places that are treasuries of Italian and Italian-American tradition, covering meats and cheeses, olive oils and vinegars, pastas, produce, pastries, wine and more. By the end you'll know where to shop, and you'll know a good deal about what you're buying and how to cook it. She also recommends restaurants, and adds some of the history of Italian-American food. There are good samples along the way, from fava beans to mortadella, sfogliatelle to limoncello! I'd recommend this tour to anyone interested in Italian and Italian-American cooking, and/or the culture and history of the North End. People with normal mobility can handle the amount of walking, as the stops aren't far apart. You need to be able to stand for most of the time, but--perhaps because of the absorbing and delightful commentary, and the intervals of walking--it didn't seem hard at all.

We were lucky to actually have Michele guiding our tour and thoroughly enjoyed the information along with her presentation style and personnal comments/opinions. Whenever traveling I enjoy learning what the "locals" enjoy regarding food and shopping. What better way to learn about the Italian influence in Boston than hearing it from someone who lives it.

loved learning about the history of the neigbhorhood, the foods and goods, and know I finally know where all the 'gems' of the north end are

What a fun, out of the ordinary type of excursion! We learned so many varied things from Paul, our excellent tour guide, about the North End whether it be food, culture, dining, shopping. Definitely a welcome treat for all ages.

The North End market tour was surprisingly educational. I thought that I had been to the North End enough times to know all about the area, but I was wrong. This tour featured interesting and little-known history of the North End. It also provided information about how the culture of the North End is similar to and different from modern day Italy. And of course, it gave glimpses and tastes of what is available in the myriad of historic and aromatic shops. I enjoyed this tour tremendously. It has made me look forward to returning to this neighborhood to continue to explore all that it has to offer. I had previously only scratched the surface of what is available there. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and personable. He was entertaining and was able to share his insights with us easily. I would reccommend this tour to anyone, even if they've been to the North End many times before. This tour was a great supplement to my previous experiences in the North End, and will enable me to enjoy my furure visits even more.