A four-hour itinerary that stops in four restaurants in central Madrid is, practically speaking, a food tour. But for Marwa Preston, a Microsoft alum turned hospitality pro who launched the Europe-based tour company Elysian Tales in May, the category fails to capture the curated luxury experience she puts together. This is no bar crawl with snacks. Does a standard food tour typically start in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant, where guests get to meet chefs over a scene-setting aperitivo? “What I’m aiming to do in four hours is let people see the city’s food scene from every angle,” Preston says, “not just one slice of it.” In many ways, Elysian Tales is more a rapid-pace foodie immersion. Led by a local host who knows everything about a city’s culinary landscape, these private sessions—currently bookable in Lisbon, Madrid, and Barcelona, with Paris to come—are crafted to show off what makes a neighborhood delicious through four types of restaurants. Starting..
