When someone asks us to name some of our favorite things about living in the Garden State, our list inevitably begins and ends with food. Whether it’s our summer bounty of Jersey corn and tomatoes, our many favorite pizza joints, all that amazing seafood from the shore, or, well, we could go on (and so, most likely could you.)
Turns out two local Jersey girls love our great state’s gastronomy so much, they started a business around sharing their favorite Jersey food destinations with others through guided food excursions, showing locals and visitors the top eats and hidden gems of North Jersey neighborhoods with their Jersey Girl Food Tours.
When Alessia Aron took a food tour of Seattle back in 2010 she loved the experience and began looking into the concept of food tours as a business in her home state. “I thought to myself, ‘Why doesn't New Jersey really have anything like this yet when New York City has over 60 food tour companies,” recounts Aron. “It's such a fun and unique way to bring people together over food, especially when we lead such hectic and technology-driven lives.” After meeting fellow Jersey girl and food lover Janis Borroto, the two decided to bring their own NJ-based food tour business to life.
“We look at food on a deeper level than the average person,” Aron adds. “The ingredients, the process, the story, the passion. We have so much respect for chefs and how hard they work to put a beautiful dish in front of a customer.
JGFT offer walking tours of everywhere from the Hamilton Park hood of Jersey City – where they take guests through the sample-heavy weekly farmers market along with neighborhood spots and food trucks doling out artisan ice cream and fresh-ground burgers – to culturally rich Rutherford where they lead visitors to Peruvian Pisco sours, fresh pasta, and a mozzarella-making demo. They also offer tours of Downtown JC, a booze-focused outing (a perfect lead-in to your Saturday night) and private tours, too. Prices range from $65 to $95 and tours run about two and a half to three hours.
Stretchy pants optional ...
