Foodie Adventures

As a former Georgian College student, I was quite aware of the meaning of a pub crawl. It conjured up memories of traipsing down Dunlop St. visiting our favourite watering holes such as the Brookdale, the Queen’s Hotel and the good old “Welly”, most now gone. So it wasn’t too long before I understood and appreciated the meaning behind the newest venture to hit downtown Barrie, the dish crawl, organized by the fast growing San Francisco based company, Dishcrawl. Hitting four restaurants in one evening to try their best signature dishes sounded pretty good to me.As a diner, Dishcrawling is very advantageous, as there is only one ticket price to pay, unless you buy alcohol, so no unfortunate surprises for your wallet. Each restaurant along the easily walk able culinary tour presents their very best dishes for your approval and the chef or owner will greet you and explain their vision, creating a real feeling of comfort and familiarity with the place.One really fun part of the whole experience is that is part mystery night. You will not necessarily know the identities of all of the restaurants you will be visiting. This creates some real buzz among the group, which usually consists of 20 – 40 excited diners. Often an eatery that you never considered trying, or once failed to impress you, pops up on the tour and you are pleasantly surprised.You may wonder why a restaurant would want to participate in a Dishcrawl. They do get paid for their involvement but the real payoff is in creating repeat customers, who after the event feel like they really know the establishment. The restaurants don’t need to do any of their own promoting for these evenings, which are always held on typically slow nights such as Wednesdays or Thursdays.When I began to think about downtown Barrie and research the eating places in the Dunlop St., Collier St., lower Bayfield St. and Mulcaster St. core, I was surprised to find that there are not less than 52 places to get a meal. As I didn’t count pizza places or donut shops, there are actually quite a few more than that number as well. A hungry foodie could try out a new restaurant once a week for a year.Our first apartment, some 27 years ago, was above a shop right next to the Queen’s Hotel on Dunlop St. Since then, I have had a great love for downtown Barrie and all its historic buildings, its waterfront views and funky, eclectic bistros and taverns. I think it will be very exciting for both long time Barrie residents and recent newcomers to see what downtown has to offer. They will most assuredly be surprised at the variety of cuisines, ethnicities, decor styles and atmospheres found in this compact area.Say hello to your new Dishcrawl food ambassador. From bar hopping student chef to downtown Barrie Dishcrawl organizer, I look forward to leading some tasty tours and eating some great grub.