Foodie locals and tourists alike can now tour hidden gems, classic standbys, and up-and-comers in downtown Modesto's exciting and growing food scene. The tour began booking guests in April 2022 and occurs every Friday and Saturday, from 2 pm to5 pm.

For $75 per ticket, guests will dine at four different restaurant establishments and stop at one food shop, although they won’t know ahead of time which eateries they will visit. “We want to keep guests in a state of mind that is conducive to curiosity, wonder, and adventure. We need the flexibility to achieve that,” said Josh Bridegroom, President and CEO of Downtown Modesto Partnership, the nonprofit behind Back Of House Food Tours. “And, we are looking to develop various tour themes to highlight different restaurants as well, and have already begun research with owners and chefs not currently on the tour.”

The term back of house refers to the kitchen in the restaurant industry, the behind-the-curtain area of the dining experience patrons don’t get to see. While Back of House Food Tours are not tours of the kitchen per se, it does deliver stories from the back of the house that customers don’t get when they dine on their own. “We’ve learned that every dish has its own untold life story,” said Stephanie Foster, who works for Downtown Modesto Partnership and helped conduct a year of research and in-depth interviews to develop the tour. “When we retell these stories to our guests, we witness something so wonderful– we see in their eyes that they are traveling through time and all around the world, employing all senses at once to experience awe.”

Guests should prepare to show up hungry and in adventurous spirits. Dishes are predetermined and selected by the restaurants themselves, and for excellent reasons; “My crew has been with me since the inception of Bauers, and we’re all fluent in our food and what we produce and their nuances. I have to be able to stay focused on that. Trying to be everywhere at once is almost impossible, so I put trust in this new tour to help with the storytelling which adds to the experience and conveys the passion that goes into every bite,” shared Tye Bauer, owner of two restaurants Bauer’s Downtown and Bauhaus and affectionately known among the restaurant community as the chef’s chef.

Book the Back Of House Food Tour online at https://www.backofhousefoodtour.com. Gift certificates are also available online.