Food tour offers a flavour of Brum

A food tour offering both locals and tourists the opportunity to explore the city’s culinary hotspots whilst learning about the history of the area has launched.

Birmingham Food Tour launched last month and is a relaxed guided walk which takes place across the city centre, offering sample dishes from the very best of Birmingham’s local independent restaurants, cafes and street food traders.

The founder and host Rhiannon Simpson, who is from Moseley and works with children with special needs, set up the tours after realising that she was keen to pursue her passion of all things delicious and show locals the best places that the city has on offer.

She said: “I have had experience in the food industry from a young age and just over a year ago, I went to Rome on holiday and did a food tour there and it got me thinking that I could show people around Birmingham venues whilst discussing the history of the area.

After doing some research, I realised that it was something that I could do. I have always had a real passion for cooking and learning about food, and eating it of course.”

Taking place between 12pm until 4pm, the Birmingham Food Tour take place monthly and stops off at six different independent venues across the city centre. Starting at the Ikon Gallery, the tour heads along the canal before making its way over to the area around the Bullring and Chinatown.

However, Rhiannon has plans to set up more. She said: “My plan is to set up more one off events which have a particular theme and I would also like to base tours in certain areas, like Moseley and the Jewellery Quarter. I have had a huge amount of interest in the tours and even have a bespoke tour coming up with a group from New Zealand.

Rhiannon has been delighted with the feedback she has received so far. She said: “The tours give locals the opportunity to discover new places, and of course that is great for the independent venues that I work with. There is also a great social dynamic on the tours and my last one welcomed locals as well as people from further afar such as Kent. But the one thing all these people share is their love of food.

“The tour is kept to no more than 10 people to be able to keep it intimate. The feedback so far has been great and a lot of people are surprised by things that they don’t know about the city.”

But what is Rhiannon’s favourite thing about the Birmingham food scene? She said: “The Birmingham food scene is constantly changing; every time I go into town I notice a new place that has opened. It keeps me on my toes and gives me a huge amount of hope that the tour will evolve in the future.

“My favourite thing about Birmingham’s food scene is how much that the city has to offer. With so many nationalities, it means that there is so much to try and enjoy. I think we, as a city, are very shy to shout about the things that we are good at but we have so much history that we should be proud of.”

The next Birmingham Food Tours are taking place on Saturday May 6 and Saturday June 3.