Michele Topor, Inc.

My husband and I would highly recommend Michele Topor's North End Market Tour. Our tour guide, Jim, was fantastic. He knew the history of the North End and he really knows his food and wine. We learned so much about Italian food and the North End. I loved it and plan to give this as a gift to our children who love cooking.

Jim was an excellent guide--knowledgeable, personable, and entertaining. He helped my daughter and I see Chinatown as a neighborhood instead of a tourist stop. Dim sum lunch was delicious.

We found the tour to be interesting and informative.

This was part of a culinary tour of New England I prepared as a thank-you gift for my husband who is "foodie" and who has been an amazing source of support for me this past year through many difficult times medically and otherwise. Our tour leader was an amazing source of information and had the personality to deliver the information in an interesting and absorbable way. Even though we had the same tour guide all morning and then again for this tour in the afternoon, we did not grow tired of him. Everything went well and wel felt we were in very capable hands as we learned so much about the culinary history of the North End. Highly recommended!

This tour of Chinatown in Boston was part of a culinary tour of New England that I prepared as a thank-you gift to my husband who has been an amazing support to me during this past year and for all the years we've been together. He's a foodie and even though I'm not a particular foodie, we both learned an amazing amount of information in an entertaining and exciting way. I'd highly recommend this tour for foodies and non-foodies alike - anyone with a curious mind who finds other cultures interesting and wants to immerse themselves in other cultures in a hands-on way. New tastes, new sights, new scents and new knowledge all added up to a delightful tour led by a knowledgeable and likeable tour guide who had a good rapport with the people of Chinatown and could relate to each of the guests on the tour. Highly recommended.

This was one of the most interesting, and fun tours I have ever had. I consider myself somewhat of a foodie, and was amazed by some food facts that I had never heard before. The shop owners were friendly and the food samples were delicious. I highly recommend this tour. Our guide Jim did a fantastic job.

My husband and I really enjoyed the tour of the north end. We feel much better acquainted with the area now and have already been back to get a few ingredients!

My husband and I took this tour on the recommendation of relatives who had taken it several months before. This was definitely one of the best city activities that we have experienced in many years of travel to a wide variety of places. Our guide, Jim, was entertaining, knowledgeable, and obviously loved his subject! The tastes of the wonderful specialties of the various markets, bakeries, etc, added so much to the experience, making it a truly multi-sensory event. It is far more than just a culinary tour, bringing in so much history and culture. Even though my husband does not cook (and has no interest in learning!), he enjoyed the tour just as much as I did. We want to do the Chinatown tour with Jim next time we are in Boston!

Great guide. Who new there were so many hidden treasures once you deviate from Hanover Street? So much history in our back yard. The shops were very welcoming. Eveyone seeme dto know Jim andwanted to talk to him. Great inside information onfood. It will change the way we cook.

I have lived 40-miles north of Boston my entire life and have always wanted to have a better understanding of the North End. Our tour guide was great: enthusiastic, knowledgeable, friendly. He provided interesting information about the people and history of this well-known ethnic area of Boston. The shop owners we visited were welcoming and seemed pleased to have us in their shops. We visited an Italian Bakery, a very upscale liquor store at which we learned about various Italian wines, and several markets. The merchants, many of whom had lived in the neighborhood their entire lives, were generous to share their goods and we had several samples in each store. We thoroughly enjoyed the three hour tour and can now return to the neighborhood with new found knowledge. It was a fun afternoon for friends to share

Our tour guide, Dick, taught us more about Italian food that I had learned in my 63 years. Really knowledgeable about both the food and the neighborhood. He knew not only the food shopkeepers but also the residents of this interesting area. Even helped an old lady up the stairs of her apartment! We have been on many food tours and really appreciate the way the "tastings" were arranged. We must have had 25 different small bites--everything from different types of pastries to cheeses, olive oils, balsamico and lemoncello--a wonderful sweet Italian liquor. This is the way to see and enjoy Boston!

Very interesting tour of north Boston. The tour gives visitors not familiar with the area the necessary information to make informed decisions concerning food, restaurants, shops, and interesting places to visit. Highly recommended.

We have spent a lot of time in Italy, enjoying the cuisine, the people, and the culture. This tour enhanced what we knew by introducing us to the culture of the North End. Our tour guide was knowledgeable of the history, the different kinds of Italian food, and of the people who live there now. He made an impressive distinction between authentic Italian food and the food he called Italian American. His observations were respectful of both. We've actually taken this tour twice, and we have recommended it to anyone who is visiting Boston and who wants to spend three hours having great fun and learning a ton. We are entertaining tomorrow night, and we plan to use a recipe that our guide (Jim) shared with us while we were standing in front of the Greengrocer, learning more about fennel, aka finnochio. If you take the tour, ask about finnochio!

Jim, our guide, is so knowledgeable and made the entire tour enjoyable. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on the tour of the North End. Our guide, Jim, was so knowledgeable of the area and spoke about it with great enthusiasm and interest. Never once did he lack for answers or explanations. We just wished we had taken this tour before we had visited Italy. Hope to provide this experience to my children in the near future. PS: You might want to add to information about parking on Cooper St. that the rate of $15.00 is only good until 6:00 pm. We were there shortly after 6 and had to pay another $20.00.