Michele Topor, Inc.

This is a great tour for food and related history of the North End. It suits neophytes and foodies alike. You don't have to be Italian to love it! Tempting tastes along the way from sweet pastries to real olive oil and real balsamic vinegar. This whets your appetite for hitting a local restaurant at the end of your tour. Jim is a great guide, well informed and helpful.

Our guide, Dick Meany, was wonderful. Dick provided us with funny anecdotes, cooking tips, and lots of knowledge about Italian ingredients and dishes on his tour. Some things to consider: I would recommend a shorter tour for less money, as three hours grew a little bit tedious. Sometimes it was also difficult to hear Dick speak over ambient noise. Overall, my group and I had an enjoyable experience. Thank you!

We enjoyed every minute and only wish the tour could have been longer but understand the time constraints. We learned so much. Jim was extremely knowledgeable and very informed about the North End from it's early days to what it is today. His culinary expertise was evident and he could not have been more personal. All of the shop personnel were generous to allow us into their space and they were all very courteous. We will be recommending this tour without question. A meal or perhaps a cooking class would be a nice addition. Walking up and down the streets of the North End with the residents going about their daily shopping routines, listening to all of the different languages, watching them interact with the shop keepers and seeing what they purchased gave us a real sense of living there. It was fun to be among them!

The tour was really good - I was a little surprised to find that Michele doesn't take the tour herself, but John, our guide, was excellent. Very knowledgeable and keen to share his passion for Italian cuisine. Highly recommended.

We loved the North End Market tour. Our guide was fabulous -- entertaining and knowledgeable. We are all avid Italian cooks and learned so much more than we thought we would! All the hidden gems and true treasures of the North End were revealed, making tiny markets and obscure ingredients totally accessible. And we tasted so much deliciousness, we circled back and picked up goodies at several of the shops we'd toured!!

My wife and I have lived in the NorthEnd for over 2 years and in the suburbs for two decades. We took the tour to to entertain two family members from NYC. We all loved it and learned a ton (and two of us are Italian Americans). It turned into he highlight of their 3-day stay. We will do it again when we have visitors. Key to the wonderful experience was out tour guide. His knowledge, fascinating narrative, and passion made it the best it could be.

Our tour was a gift given to us by our children. This was a great way to experience the history, ambiance, and flavor(s) of the North End. We highly recommend it.!

My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. The guide was a good communicator, knowledgeable, and had a pleasant sense of humor. Unlike another food tour I took in a different city, this one was 90% about food, not history or architecture. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to cook and loves to eat.

The guide was excellent and informed. However, the tour route and locations were uncomfortable with lots of standing and poor accoustics. The weather is deifinately an issue and in this case the wind was relentless.

very informative and fun Learned a lot.

Michele Topor's North End Italian Market Tour was much more than I expected. She is a wonderful and knowledgeable guide of anything Italian, be it in the North End area or Italy. Her tour information gave me new insights to eating, cooking and good health tips all while walking through the most charming and friendly neighborhood in Boston. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Boston, especially if you are interested in learning from the best about Italian foods. The stores we visited were very friendly with wonderful goods and after the tour, I went back to 3 of them and purchased items (Maria's Bakery Shop shouldn't be missed!). I also ended the day with dinner at the restaurant, Artu, that she recommended! It was excellent! I highly recommend this North End Market tour when in Boston or consider going with her to Italy, I hope to do that in the future. Regards, Pam from Gainesville Florida

Our group of 7 enjoyed this tour tremendously. Michele's knowledge of Italian cooking and customs gave us all in unique insight into the Italian life style. We all felt that we should possibly take the tour again with notebook in hand to record the many suggestions, observations, and recommendations he gave us. He really did open our eyes to a side of Italian life and cooking we didn't know existed. If we return to Boston, we will take another tour and insist upon Michele as our guide.

Our tour on 10/16/10 was fantastic. Beth was a great tour guide who is extremely knowledgeable about both the North End and Italy. She did a great job of explaining the distinct characteristics of each stop on the tour. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone - aspiring chef or not!

Our tour guide was excellent, he was well informed of the history of the North End, acquainted with customs and products unique to the area such as the fresh produce and the pasteries. The tour guide had a nice sense of humor and kept our interest for three hours.

Went in the winter. I would like to do it again when it's warmer. I enjoyed the history of the area as well as the culture of Italy. The information I got helped me to make better purchases while in the north end and at home. It also gave me less touristy places to try. This allowed me to enjoy the meals I had on my short vacation in the area.