First food tour in Medina whets appetite for more in the future
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Alix Gilman, who owns the Shirt Factory Café with Scott Robinson, sets up cups as she gets ready to serve a specialty drink to the first participants in Medina ’s Canal Village Food Tour on Saturday.
MEDINA – Sue Green and Sue Squires of Medina are longtime friends who are always looking for new things to do.
Saturday’s first Canal Village Food Tour was no exception and the ladies were among the first to purchase their tickets when they went on sale.
“I was excited about the street part and history walk,” Squires said. “I have a lot of friends who visit from out of town and it will be fun to tell them about the things I’ve learned.”
Green said for her it was a lot about spending time with her friends, but the bonus was learning about things in her home town that she never knew before. Also, having a career in the food industry, she said it would be interesting to see what they got to eat and drink along the way.
The Canal Village Food Tour was sponsored by Orleans Renaissance Group, Canal Village Farmers’ Market and Shirt Factory Café. It was an idea born out of the very successful Farm to Table dinners the last several years in Medina, said Chris Busch, president of ORG.
Lifelong friends Sue Green, left, and Sue Squires, both of Medina, show their tickets to Medina’s first Canal Village Food Tour Saturday at the Shirt Factory Café, where participants gathered to begin their culinary journey.
The food tour began at the Shirt Factory Café, where owners Alix Gilman and Scott Robinson first served a seasonal specialty drink, ending with a Medina 1832 sparkling cocktail. The couple then acted as tour guides as they led their group of a dozen to participating venues in downtown Medina, sharing stories of the historic buildings along the way.
Makaila Albanese was working at the counter during the morning, and said everyone who came back after the tour was talking about the progress in Medina and asking lots of questions.
“There’s definitely talk of doing another tour,” she said.
Scott Robinson said business owners were all excited about how the first food tour went and they are anxious to try another.
“This was a test run to see how it would go,” Robinson said. “It’s pretty sure we’ll have another before the end of the year. People were pretty impressed with what is going on in Medina .”
Future food tours will most likely accommodate more people, while keeping each group small, Robinson said.
“At this point, almost anything is on the table,” he said.
Iva McKenna and her daughter Jenny of Albion showed up early, hoping to get tickets, but they were all sold out.
“So we made our own tour,” Iva said. “We went to Sourced in Millville for breakfast, then came here to the Shirt Factory Café for coffee and now we’re going to the farmers’ market. Then we’ll end up at the MAAC Thrift Depot to shop.”
