THE BRONX, NEW YORK. Addie Tomei watches in delight as David Greco stands behind the counter of his deli, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and plunges his hands into a vat of water. He fishes out a softball- sized cheese curd, and begins a forceful massage.
"Watch what happens next," she whispers to a man standing next to her.
In a matter of minutes, the curd transforms into a snow-white rope of mozzarella cheese, and the small crowd that has gathered around the counter at Mike’s Deli breaks into a round of applause for the artisan and his work.
Mike’s Deli is a 57-year-old institution and one of the main draws on Arthur Avenue, a three-block triangle of Italian culture in the north Bronx.
"Arthur Avenue is New York’s real Little Italy, only many people don’t know about it," says Tomei. "Even some New Yorkers haven’t heard of it."
But that’s where Tomei comes in. For the past 11 years, she has operated Savory Sojourns, a walking-eating tour guide service that canvasses some of the city’s most delicious neighborhoods.
After sampling some of the deli’s imported sopressatta and prosciutto, Tomei and her group move on to the next stop: Biancardi Meats, a true Italian butcher where goat shanks and rabbit can be ordered as easily as sirloin. The afternoon will be rounded out by a visit to a pastry shop to watch cannoli being made, followed by a peek inside the brick ovens of the Terranova Bakery, and lunch of bucatini in zucchini cream sauce at Roberto Restaurant.

Arthur Avenue is only the tip of the iceberg on the Savory Sojourns tour list. Tomei also takes tourists and New Yorkers alike to experience the bagel factories and pickle-makers on the Lower East Side; the dim sum palaces and herbalists of Chinatown; and the Middle Eastern imports markets on Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue.
For Tomei, a lifelong New Yorker born to Italian parents, starting a walking-eating tour service of her city was a natural evolution that followed a 30-year career as an English teacher.
"My father emigrated here from Tuscany and settled in Greenwich Village," she says. "After my husband and I moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan, I got to know all the best places to shop and eat. I was always taking friends from out of town around the city when they came to visit."
Tomei’s budding avocation coupled with newfound retirement resulted in a lightbulb moment. Since then she has shepherded hundreds of food lovers to the city’s most interesting cafes, spice markets, cheese makers, and restaurants. Clients include garden-variety tourists as well as corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and MasterCard.
"Sometimes the corporate tours are to help launch a product or thank employees for a job well done," says Tomei. "We also do spousal programs so someone traveling with their spouse on business will have something to do while they’re at meetings.
"Many of the corporations I work with have found the tours to be a great way to promote teambuilding among their employees and boost morale. Walking through fascinating parts of New York, tasting things, and having lunch is a great way to bond."
Tomei’s guided tours are the perfect solution for those wanting to pack in a lot of experience during a visit to the city without wasting time deciphering maps and asking directions.
One of her recent tours of Chinatown included a visit to a tea imports store, a Buddhist shrine, an Asian candy shop, open-air markets, an herbalist, and a four-course meal, all within a four-hour time frame. Some tours even include cooking classes. Tomei also offers individual and customized tours of varying lengths.
Savory Sojourns may not be the only on-foot eating tour of the city, but it’s the only one where an Oscar-winning actress might make an unexpected appearance. Tomei’s daughter Marisa Tomei (star of such films as In the Bedroom and My Cousin Vinny) lives in Manhattan and can sometimes be found strolling the same neighborhoods where her mom conducts tours.

"One day she was walking down the street having an ice cream cone when I was taking a group through Greenwich Village," Tomei recalls.
"So I waved her over and had her say hello to everyone."
But whether or not her famous daughter makes an appearance, Tomei says clients invariably conclude her tours with the sense of having taken a mini-adventure.
"I just got an e-mail from a Manhattan resident who took my tour of Chelsea, thanking me for an unforgettable day," she says. "Even for a New Yorker, there’s always something to discover that you didn’t know.
There’s just so much here . . . New York is a constantly evolving city." ET

For more information about
Savory Sojourns, visit
www.savorysojourns.com
or call 888-9-SAVORY. Tours start at $95