Getting a Finer Taste of the Region
by R h o n d a G e ra c i
T
here are several guided tours to help visitors discover what stole the hearts of those who live in the Golden Isles. Cristy Lenz is ready to immerse them in what warms their bellies with a spectacular St. Simons food tour. Food Tours Golden Isles is a new feature on St. Simons Island and comes at heels of Cristy’s highly acclaimed Food Tour launch in Atlanta. Cristy grew up around here near the old iron pot that commemorates its claim to Brunswick stew. She attended Glynn Academy and St. Francis. We
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ELEGANT ISLAND LIVING
met at Wake Up in Redfern Village for a latte and shared some of Aunt Dee’s pound cake from Sweet Mama’s. Sitting on the porch over a vast landscape of sea grass, the marsh birds whistled their morning tune, an alligator snorted his breakfast down, and an eagle circled above us. When I asked Cristy what made her decide to bring her food tour home, her face lit up, “When I think about my childhood or what made food important for me, it was the food from this island. It was shrimp boats and riding on the shrimp boats. Growing up on St. Simons and in Brunswick, you get to know the food in a way that most
people don’t, so introducing people to locally owned restaurants on St. Simons Island is sentimental to me, and it just seemed like such an awesome thing to do.” Cristy has always been a foodie, but she was a journalist for 20 years with Fox News Network and CNN before she became a food tour guide. Her idea for a food tour came after her dream trip to Paris. “One thing that is really important to me is well-prepared food. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. It just must be well prepared and delicious. Finding those places when you travel is always hard because I like
