Looking to explore the sights of Dubrovnik with the finest cuisine?
My last few articles have me sounding more and more like a ”foodie” and I can assure you, I am far from one. I know nothing about food and as I mentioned in my article about Villa Ruza (Kolocep) I don’t really care for it and rarely am I ever impressed by it, but excellent food related, Dubrovnik related things keep coming up and I can’t help but write about them. So, with the hope you’ll take advice from someone who admittedly knows very little, but is very impressed all the same, here goes.
I’d like to introduce you to the Sights and Bites Dubrovnik Food Tour, a food tour founded by gastronomy lover and expert, Richard Gruica a.k.a ”Foodzilla”. Richard is an American of Croatian descent who lives for a large portion of the year here in Dubrovnik where he and co-founders Pero Bule and Marko Kockovic run Captivating Croatia, a food tour that operates in and around the Dubrovnik area and is continually extending its reach further. Richard is a longtime member of the Slow Food movement and his passion and professional history with food gives him and his tours an edge that many simply do not have. Richard is the founder of the highly successful ”Good Eats and Meets”, the largest dining and socialising group in the USA with groups in six cities and tens of thousands of members. For the past seven years, Good Eats and Meets has organised thousands of excellent events in the US and has turned its sights to doing the very same here in Croatia.
The Sights and Bites Dubrovnik Food Tour is operated by Richard and co-founders Ana Jukic, Bozo Jukic and Pero Bule, all of whom are intimately familiar with the Dubrovnik area.
”Since many visitors may only be in Dubrovnik for a few days, we wanted to give those guests a peek into how special the cuisine and culture is in this spectacular country. It isn’t just about us and the food, it is about the soul of the city and the people and products behind it. Our small team is passionate about all things related to food and drink here in Croatia, and we started Croatia Food Tours to share that passion and give our guests to get an insider’s view into the real Croatia.” states the Croatia Food tour website.
The Sights and Bites tour takes place in Dubrovnik’s famous Old Town in the morning and again in the afternoon for a very fair price of 50 euros. For your money you get a full 2.5 hour tour with an English speaking guide local to the area, food sampling at several locations (this includes both meat and seafood dishes as well as a dessert) and a glass of high quality Croatian wine thrown in. Due to it being in the walled city and namely in the summer months, it is important to stress that direct sun exposure and staircases naturally come into play and whether you will be able to tackle those two things are left to your discretion. The menu(s) are pre-set, but food allergies etc will be catered to in the best way possible as long as enough warning is given.
Richard and his team have a very successful background, extensive knowledge about food and are keen to showcase what the Croatian cuisine scene (good rhyme) has to offer in a selection of small, intimate and carefully tailored tours that Richard proudly calls the ”un tour, tour”.
Take it from someone who is utterly clueless about food, Richard is one of the only people I would trust when it comes to the in depth, ins and outs of gastronomy. Take a look for yourself on the website here, and the Facebook page.
