Food is sustenance, but food is also a story. The culture that informed its preparation, the background of the ingredients and chefs that brought it to life — there’s so much more to a great dish than what’s on your fork.
This is what we aim to impart with Walk Eat Nashville food tours. We don’t want you to leave a tour just knowing where you can find memorable dishes in Nashville, but knowing who’s crafting that cuisine, what their influences and inspirations are, how their creations and interpretations fit into the background of the area. We want to share stories. Which is why we’ve always worked with storytellers.
The Walk Eat Nashville tour guide team is growing
From the start, Walk Eat Nashville food tours have been led largely by journalists — people with a deep wealth of food knowledge, and a knack for gathering details and anecdotes to tell a story that sticks. Storytelling is as much a part of Walk Eat Nashville as delicious food.
Founder and longtime journalist/dot-com executive Karen-Lee Ryan was the first. Guides Chris Chamberlain (a regular food and travel writer for the Nashville Scene, Nashville Lifestyles and Thrillist) and Ad Hudler (a published novelist from a five-generation newspaper family) have now been with us for more than three years.
Recently, our group of guides has grown, and we’re thrilled to have expanded our team of Nashville food experts and storytellers.
Meet the newest Walk Eat Nashville recruits:
> Hannah Messinger
A former photojournalist and current food stylist, writer, Pantry Raid podcast host and guide whose work has been featured in Food & Wine, Food 52, Edible Nashville, The Tennessean, Nashville Lifestyles, Native magazine and The Huffington Post, among others.
> Nancy Vienneau
A chef, recovered caterer, food educator and activist, writer and cookbook author whose work appears in Alimentum: The Literature of Food, Relish Magazine, Nashville Lifestyles magazine, Tennessee Craft Beer Magazine, Edible Nashville, The Tennessean and her own blog, Good Food Matters.
> Margaret Littman
The author of multiple travel guidebooks, including Moon Nashville, Moon Tennessee, and Moon Nashville to New Orleans Road Trip, as well as a regular contributor to Punch, the Nashville Scene, Nashville Lifestyles, The Telegraph, Orbitz, Rolling Stone Country, Wine Enthusiast and many other publications.
> Lindsey Bathke
A longtime music industry touring professional who's held various behind-the-scenes crew roles for multiple pop, country and rock musicians, while sampling food from coast to coast. Those experiences bred a love of exploration and cuisine that she now shares passionately with her Nashville neighbors.
> Pam Windsor
A multi-platform travel and culture writer who spent two decades as a reporter, anchor and producer at TV stations in Virginia and Kentucky, and as a writer/producer at CNN International in Atlanta.
Each one of our guides offers deep knowledge and enthusiasm about food, Nashville, and Nashville food. We’re beyond proud to have them representing Walk Eat Nashville, and we hope you’ll get to know them, and the vibrant Nashville restaurant and artisan landscape, during one (or several) of our food tours.
Looking for a way to explore the best food in Nashville? Walk Eat Nashville walking food tours make it easy — covering East Nashville, Midtown and SoBro/Downtown, each tour includes tastings at multiple restaurants/shops and behind-the-scenes interactions with chefs and owners. Learn more about Walk Eat Nashville food tours.