Leading The Way: Cristina McCarter

People told me what they loved best was the feeling they had gotten away from everything for a little while. You cannot sit in the house all day and not have something to look forward to. We’re not built like that. I gave people a little break, something to experience during this difficult times …

Cristina McCarter, owner of City Tasting Tours, belongs to a worldwide group of food tour owners on Facebook. As COVID-19 began forcing Italy to close down, she got scared, realizing that if the virus came to the US, her operation would be shut down, too ...

At what point did you realize you were going to have to pivot?

I still remember the date – March 14th. Initially, I thought we’d still be able to do tours as long as we washed our hands and refrained from hugging, the way we normally do. It’s the South, so we are all about the hospitality. Then, the next day, the restaurants in Memphis began closing. That’s when it really sunk in, because without them, there’s no food tour.

Tell me about your business.

City Tasting Tours is a food tour tasting company. We take people to different restaurants in Memphis, usually four. They have tastings at each restaurant. They get to meet the chefs, learn about the dishes they’re eating and hear the stories behind them. Then, as we walk to the next restaurant, I tell them all about the historical landmarks around downtown Memphis in the South Main Arts District. We have the National Civil Rights Museum, the Orpheum, Beale Street and the I Am A Man mural. Because someone else was offering a barbecue tour when I started my business, I began with a soul food tour and a “brunch so hard” tour. Eighty percent of my business was locals which was interesting to me because I thought I was going into the tourist industry.

What was your initial response to COVID-19?

I started talking with local restaurant owners, asking them what they were going to do and offering to brainstorm with them because we’re all family. The initial idea of doing virtual food tours came from those conversations because I realized the restaurants were going to be doing a lot of to go orders. My birthday is March 26th, and I thought, there’s no way for me to go out and celebrate because I’m such a restaurant person. It would be really nice if we offered something for these special occasions like what I did with the tours.

Once I had the idea, I called a few restaurant owners at 10:00 pm at night and shared my idea. I said, here’s what I’m thinking … I can come pick up the food from y’all and go deliver it to people. While they’re eating, I can play video clips of interviews with you and the other chefs and the places we visit on the food tour, and it will be like they’re watching the tour while they’re eating the tour. The owners said, “Well, we’re down, because you usually have good ideas. Whatever we can do to keep the money flowing, let’s do it!”

We put the whole project together in two weeks, which is insane when I think back on it, trying to launch something that fast. We had to make the videos as the restaurants were closing. Initially, we planned to go inside and talk to the chefs, but that wasn’t possible so we filmed the conversations in front of the restaurants instead. Downtown Memphis was like a ghost town, but we made it work with what we had at the time. I could have delivered the food without the video clips because people were excited about not having to cook, but I wanted it to be an experience. That’s the whole point of City Tasting Tours. It’s more than just food. With the virtual tours, we were offering a dining experience in the comfort of your own home while still supporting the local restaurants. Instead of having to go out and get all this food from several different restaurants and risk exposing yourself, we do that part for you.

Where would the food come from, and what would you show on the videos?

The food would come from several restaurants, just like the actual tour. For example, people would get an appetizer from City Block, an entree from Grecian Gourmet or Rizzo’s and dessert from Prima’s Bakery. When the state passed a law allowing cocktails to go, we were able to add sangria, a bottle of wine or a cocktail from another place. In the videos, we showed that, too.

Each video is about twenty minutes. We filmed Cady at Pontotoc Lounge explaining how she makes a cocktail, Chef Mike at Rizzo’s talking about his chorizo meatloaf and Rachel from Prima’s Bakery & Boutique sharing about what they do. After that, I talk about the South Main Arts District and the different landmarks around Memphis.

What was the initial response to your virtual tours?

It was a great pivot for a few months because I had the local audience. We got positive feedback and lots of interest. My current customers were calling but I picked up a lot of new customers, too. People who’d been wanting to come on a tour but couldn’t figure out when to go. They told me, “this works even better because we don’t have to pick a date; you just come to us.” I was sold out every weekend. People were excited to have something to do on their special occasion days. Mother’s Day, for example, was a big one because so many people didn’t know how to celebrate so they sent their mama on a virtual tour. She could dress up and feel like she was going out to eat. The virtual tours gave people something special to look forward to. I even did a few work conference calls for local companies. I would deliver a mini version of the food at lunch to a team. While they enjoyed the food, they would watch the videos, and then we’d talk about it afterwards on Zoom.

People told me what they loved best was the feeling they had gotten away from everything for a little while. You cannot sit in the house all day and not have something to look forward to. We’re not built like that. I gave people a little break, something to experience during this difficult times.

Why did you have to pivot a second time?

When the restaurants re-opened at the end of May, people started dining out again, and the demand for virtual tours disappeared. No one was signing up for in-person tours either so I knew I had to come up with a new idea. A lot of other food tour operators were delivering some type of food boxes in partnership with the farmers’ markets. It was a great idea because the farmers’ markets weren’t open, and the farmers needed a way to sell all that produce they’d spent months harvesting. But once the farmers’ markets reopened, there would be no demand for the boxes. I wanted to do something for the long term. That’s how the City Tasting Box came to be.

My customers have been saying for years that they wanted to take the food they eat on the tours home with them. Now they have a way to do that. The Memphis Travel Box includes barbecue staples and Memphis classics that everyone loves like barbecue seasoning, barbecue sauce, some different seasonings from local chefs, lemonade and Makeda’s cookies. The Support Local Box includes olive oils, vinaigrettes, simple syrups, jams, jellies, honey and Pop’s Kernel Gourmet Popcorn.

Have you been sharing ideas with your food tour operators group on Facebook?

It’s really a give and take. Everybody shares. There are thousands of us. I’m one of the youngest food tour owners in the world. There aren’t a lot of young people in this industry nor are there a bunch of Black people. I’ve met maybe four. But we all try to help each other learn something because food tourism is still pretty new compared to something like history tours or architecture tours.

What has been the biggest surprise so far?

The response and the amount of support I’ve received, from locals supporting our restaurants and from other people trying to help Black-owned businesses. I had a chance to talk and be part of the spotlight. In Memphis, that’s not hard to do. We’re 64% of the population so we’re everywhere, but even then, I was shocked at how much support I got. It’s been great.

Starting City Tasting Box has been the biggest surprise because I’ve never gotten this much help with anything. When I started City Tasting Tours, I had no money and very little support. Just a good idea and three or four restaurants who understood the concept. The three restaurants turned into fifteen by the end of 2020. Downtown Memphis did give me a virtual event grant when I started the virtual tours which helped pay for the videos. But with City Tasting Box, I got even more support. My friend Lisa Brown decided to invest in me and become a partner. It feels great to start a business with capital upfront. If nothing else, the chance to tell my story, keep Memphis in a positive light and showcase what a supportive city we are has been wonderful.

What lessons have you learned from the pandemic so far?

I can easily answer that – it would be patience. I am an Aries, and we are known to not have any patience. I don’t. I just don’t have it. So normally, things got to go. Let’s do it. But in this case, I’ve had to learn patience. If you want things to go right, you have to think about it a lot more.

When the country reopens and returns to some kind of normal, what will you take forward into your business?

City Tasting Boxes and getting back to the in-person tours. I cannot wait to start doing tours again. People come to Memphis, and they think they can handle it in a weekend. We’ll have our barbecue, and we’ll see these sites, and then we’ve conquered Memphis. But we have so much more here. People either miss it, or they realize it while they’re here and need more time. But if you do a food tour, you get the food, plus the history plus the culture all at once. That’s the part I miss. Being able to interact with people and help them navigate the city in a fun way. So whether it’s spring, summer or fall of next year, I’ll be ready to get back to it.

Cristina McCarter is a proud native Memphian with a pure passion for her city and the culinary scene. Cristina started building her own food tasting tour company City Tasting Tours in 2016. Her goal is to introduce visitors and locals alike to the restaurants in town that will leave guests in food heaven! Her positive perspective on Memphis has led her to receive many accoldades including being named part of Memphis Business Journal's 40 under 40 class of 2019. She has expanded the brand with City Tasting Events and co-founded Feast and Graze, a charcuterie delivery service. Most recently, she co-created City Tasting Box, a curated collection of local food artisans all in one box shipped nationwide during COVID-19.