Shelter-in-place rules prevent Local Food Adventures founder Lauren McCabe Herpich from leading groups on East Bay culinary walking tours, as is her usual stock-in-trade.
But she has come up with another project to further tempt food fans while supporting local makers and proprietors.
Priced at $99 (shipping included) and packaged with festive paper and a handwritten message of your choosing, the Local Love Gift Box is a curated collection of items normally featured on Local Food Adventures tours.
In non-pandemic times, the six-year-old company offers food-focused tours of Jack London Square, Rockridge, Lafayette, and elsewhere, along with specialized local tours focusing on ice cream, pizza, and more.
“They say the best way to someone’s heart is through their stomach, right?” asks Herpich, whose tours have been hailed in National Geographic magazine and were named the 2018 and 2019 “Best Tour in the East Bay” by Diablo Magazine.
Each Local Love Gift Box includes a 6.78 oz. bottle of Tuscan Herb infused olive oil from Amphora Nueva; a 1/2-cup jar of Poivre a la Mode Citrus Pepper from Oaktown Spice Shop; a 17.6 oz. bag of Rustichella d’Abruzzo pasta from Market Hall Foods; a 18 oz jar of Super Q Mild Barbeque Sauce from Everett & Jones Barbeque; two 1 oz. bars of Barlovento dark chocolate from Diablo Foods; a 4 oz. satchel of Vanilla Creme black tea from Papillon Coffee; online access to Cooking at Home with Local Food Adventures: Recipes from Top Chefs as Seen on Our Tours Digital Cookbook; a $15 gift certificate for any Local Food Adventures food tour; and a Local Food Adventures reusable shopping bag.
The first 25 orders to be shipped within a 25-mile radius of Oakland will also receive two tickets to the Grand Lake Theater.
As a Mother’s Day gift, Father’s Day gift, graduation gift or just a reminder of all things delicious, the box “is a perfect way to send your love anywhere in the world while also supporting our local small-business community,” Herpich said.
As is also the case with food-tour admission fees, $1 from every Local Love Gift Box purchased goes to support the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Another $1 goes to support East Bay FeedER.
