Ocala Food Walks:Taking a Culinary Tour

Ocala Food Walks is a cool conciergelevel guide to all the best spots to eat downtown. That you don’t know where you’re going to go until you’re actually on your way there is just a bonus!

By Rick Allen

The past two decades have seen a culinary explosion in downtown Ocala. Ocala Main Street recently produced a list of 28 eateries in and around the Downtown Square. Twenty years ago when I first began chronicling the area’s culinary landscape, there was maybe a third of that number. It wasn’t a memorable scene.

Savvy Ocalans knew finer dining was beyond the square—College Road, east Silver Springs and such. But that was then. Today it’s possible to dine downtown every day for a month and not visit the same place twice.

Moreover, many of the names on the Main Street list have opened in the past five years. There were more than a few I’d never heard of. But thanks to Karen Grimes, in just one afternoon I’m back in the know. How? By tagging along on one of her daily Ocala Food Walks. “It’s a great way to sample places to eat,” she says. “I guarantee you’ll be back.”

The idea is simple. Over an afternoon, Grimes guides a tour group—usually limited to 10— from stop to stop like a museum docent. She spices the trek with tidbits of Ocala’s past.

Then there’s this: “Here’s the best part,” she said at one stop. “You eat and I pay for it.”

It’s a three-hour tour you almost hope leaves you stranded.

Gaylee and Dean LeDour moved here from Minnesota three years ago. They joined this day’s tour to find new dining options. “We used to think Ocala was slow, boring,” Gaylee says before the tour began. “Things certainly have changed. It’s amazing how much there is to explore.”

Katya Vineyards

Photo courtesy Karen Grimes

Grimes said she has a dozen or so downtown eateries to choose from. The walks visit five and change daily. The mix-and-match practically guarantees no two tours are identical. The daily Ocala tours are an offshoot of her successful Farm Tours of Ocala, that go “behind the gates” of some of the area’s finest horse farms.

And not long ago, she launched a food walk in Cedar Key.

On a cloudless Wednesday recently, with the mercury inching down, our tour took off from the gazebo on the square to Big Hammock Brewery, one of downtown’s newer sites.

On the board here were a cup of chicken miso ramen (“Bet this isn’t like the ramen you ate in college,” quipped brewer/owner Jason Delaney) and bao, a steamed bun with marinated pork belly seasoned with Sunshine Sauce.

Big Hammock Brewery

Photo by Ralph Demilio

Delaney was among the first eateries to sign on for the Food Walks. “I thought it was an interesting concept,” he says. After some consideration he said, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

That was the challenge, Grimes said—to convince wary restaurateurs to agree to something that had never been done before. But Grimes was persuasive. “I used the tools I learned from the Farm Tours,” she says.

“I think it’s a cool idea,” Delaney says, convinced. “It exposes people to places they haven’t been.”

The next stop is Feta Mediterranean for dolmades, which are stuffed grape leaves, and a chunk of spanakopita. Roger Spanjer says he remembered the Feta building from before its restaurant days. “My wife, Rachel,” he says, “is really into this kind of thing.”

Off again, and after a quick stop at The Corkscrew for a tasting of locally vinted wines, we headed to the innovative downtown shop, the Olive Oil Market, for 20 minutes of sampling—You guessed it!—olive oils and vinegars.

But these are not your everyday vinegars. They are thick, creamy, and smooth and some are actually kind of sweet. Except for the slightest bit of bite, these could be finer liqueurs. Owner Tony Procida has a wall lined with various flavors of these aged vinegars.

Olive Oil Market

Photo by Ralph Demilio

“What’s more important than the aging is how much wine vinegar is added after the aging,” he explains. “All of these have only ten percent added. The vinegars you get at the supermarket have as much as 40 percent.” With these vinegars, “Take the experience of food,” he adds, “and make it into something special.”

“I never thought I’d spend an afternoon sipping vinegar,” says Cheryl Hunt. “My mother-in-law drinks apple cider vinegar. I tried it once, thought I would die. But this is pretty yummy.”

Off to Sayulita, a designer taqueria in the site that long hosted Brick City Café, and Cowboy Tacos, which are piled with marinated steak, applesmoked bacon, fajita cheese, and cilantro. “I’ve put a lot of time into this,” Grimes says, “tasted everything myself.”

As the chill intensified, we headed to the Katya Vineyard at Silver Springs and Northeast First Avenue, where we were welcomed with warm mulled wine followed by a fanciful flight of exotic cheeses for sampling.

“This is how people eat in Europe,” Grimes says. “You won’t get anything like this out [on SR] 200.” Executive Chef Tony Deras dropped by. “I believe in the experi ence,” he says. And the experience here is sublime elegance.

The tour wrapped at Ocala’s Chocolate & Confections shop on Fort King and some sample goodies there. Gaylee and Dean gave the tour a thumbs up. “It’s a nice way to discover what’s downtown,” Dean says.

But Gaylee was curious about the equine experience. “Do you still do the farm tours?” she asks. “Absolutely,” Grimes replies.

“That would be interesting,” Gaylee says to Dean.

Farm Tours of Ocala

Photo courtesy Karen Grimes

It All Started With Farm Tours

Grimes says she moved to this area 30 years ago for the horses, and then began to sell real state. Ten years later when real estate crashed, she went to work for the Hilton, where she often was asked about touring Ocala’s famed horse farms and was surprised to find there weren’t any such tours. So she started one. These take place in the morning, when the farms are more active.

The only walking involved is at the farms themselves. She shuttles her group to the three farms in a large van. “When I first started,” she says, “all I had was a beat-up school van.”

Like the food tour, variety is the rule. “Depending on the day of the week and time of the year,” its promotional brochure notes, “tours may include retired former equine champions, stud farms, newborn foals, show jumping, dressage, and polo.” The really lucky ones get to help wash a thoroughbred after a morning run.

Discovering Cedar Key

Cedar Key Food Walks

Photo courtesy Karen Grimes

A fan of social media, Grimes says she noticed repeated questions about food tours in the picturesque Gulf of Mexico community. Of course she filled the void, but here seafood is the focus. Launched in October, the Cedar Key Food Walks take place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons.

Like the Ocala Food Walk, this is an amble to five restaurants—four savory, one sweet—in the small town. Of course it includes a stop at Tony’s, the three-time world champion of New England clam chowder. Along the way are sprinklings of local history. Total mileage is about 1.5, and comfortable shoes are recommended.

OCALA FOOD WALKS: 2pm, Wednesday-Saturday. Departs from gazebo on Ocala Downtown Square. $49 per person, includes all foods. By reservation only: 462- 5737; ocalafoodwalks@gmail.com

FARM TOURS OF OCALA: 8:45am, Monday-Saturday. Departs 9am from Florida Thoroughbred Breeder’s and Owner’s Association, 801 SW 60th Ave. $55 per person. By reservation only: 895-9302; www.farmtoursofocala.com

CEDAR KEY FOOD WALKS: 2pm, Friday-Sunday. Departs Cedar Key Arts Center sculpture garden, 457 Second St. $50 per person, includes all foods. By reservation only: 462-5737; ocalafoodwalks@gmail.com