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About Us

Word of Mouth Food Tours is a new company that showcases Perth’s food and restaurants by visiting some of the city’s best restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments and retail outlets.

 

Director Otto Kamenzin promises “an indulgent culinary journey visiting some of Perth’s newest and finest eating establishments.”

 

Patrons on our Food Tour meet the owners, learn about the food industry and sample the produce at each venue visited.  “Our tours provide a means to discover, or rediscover Perth’s diverse food culture.”

 

The Food Tour visits a variety of venues including specialists in coffee, pastry, savoury, herbal tea, chocolate, ice-cream, craft beer, fresh markets, retail, casual dining and fine dining.

 

Currently Word of Mouth Food Tours is offering full-day tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as the very popular 3 and 4 course Progressive Dinners every night of the week; 2 course Progressive Lunches from Monday to Friday and selected weekends; Wine Tours, Grape Grazing Tours, Afternoon of Food & Wine on weekdays & weekends; along with a range of Group and Corporate Tours.

 

Go to the appropriate web page to read more about our range of food tours.

 

Word of Mouth Food Tours

Word of Mouth Food Tours showcases Perth’s food culture, highlighting eating hubs that offer a concentration of restaurants and cafés and enjoying the best on offer at many fantastic eateries.

 

The Food Tour encapsulates what the food industry in Perth is all about, covering a variety of venues from one end of the city to the other including coffee, pastry, savoury, sweet, herbal tea, chocolate, ice-cream, fresh produce, international flavours, craft beer, retail and seafood from casual dining to fine dining.

 

Word of Mouth Food Tours offers day tours, progressive dinners and progressive lunches, with flexible itineraries depending on the needs of those attending. There are currently Wednesday and Saturday Food Tours, two very different tours, progressive dinners and progressive lunches offering different venues within the various eating hubs in and around Perth.

 

The Food Tour offers an exciting day of sights, tastes and smells – sure to present even the avid foodie a new experience.

 

Otto leads the culinary journey, ferrying participants via air-conditioned minibus, visiting some of Perth’s finest, newest and unique restaurants, cafés, drinking establishments and retail outlets.  It’s an indulgent day of food with a small group of people where you meet the owner or manager to explain about the venue, learn about the hospitality industry, have the opportunity to ask questions and sample wares from each venue.

 

Progressive dinners and progressive lunches are a fantastic way to discover new places, and sample a variety of cuisines with different venues for each course.  Nowhere else will you get a 3 course mea, and visit 3 to 4 different venues in the one night, receive 1 or 2 complimentary drinks, hassle free ordering and luxury transport to and from your home or office?

 

 

Explain the genesis of the tours?

The idea for Word of Mouth Food Tours originated from my father’s love of food.  I have a love of food through my father being a chef all his life.  The actual idea of a food tour came to me when I was conducting a wine tour out in the Swan Valley.  I thought, why can’t we have the same concept but with food; tasting different foods at different restaurants and cafes.  So for the next few months, I drafted a business plan and created Word of Mouth Food Tours.

 

Word of Mouth Food Tours is a fun filled day seeing, smelling and tasting delights as you are taken on a culinary journey visiting some of Perth’s finest, newest and unique restaurants, cafés, drinking establishments and retail outlets providing you with information on each.

 

It’s an indulgent day of food with a small group of people where you will meet the owner or manager to explain about the venue, learn about the food industry and have the opportunity to ask questions and taste samples from each venue.

 

Word of Mouth Food Tours showcases Perth’s food and restaurants highlighting suburbs and eating hubs that offer a concentration of restaurants and cafés, delighting you with what’s-good-to-eat at the many fantastic eateries available.

 

The Food Tour captures all aspects of the food industry.  The tour covers a variety of venues including coffee, pastry, savoury, sweet, herbal tea, chocolate, ice-cream, fresh produce, international flavours, craft beer, retail and seafood from casual dining to fine dining.

 

Progressive dinners and progressive lunches is a great way to discover new places, sample different cuisines by eating at some of Perth’s finest, newest and unique restaurants and cafés.  Progressive Dinners and Progressive Lunches include different venues for each course.  People can choose their venues or we can choose it for them. To keep travel time to a minimum, venues are located in Leederville, Mt Lawley, East Perth, Subiaco and Wembley, as well as restaurants in the Swan Valley.

 

I hope patrons on the Food Tour discover something new, learn from the venues or from the people behind the scenes.  I hope patrons on the Food Tour return to those venues they liked and become a new customer.

 

On our progressive dinners and progressive lunches, I hope patrons return to those venues to sit and enjoy the full dining experience.  It’s an opportunity for people to discover new restaurants and cafés.  Perhaps break the barriers for people north of the river to discover the south, and visa versa.

 

 

What types of people are attracted to food tours?

The Food Tour certainly attracts foodies from all walks of life.  Generally I have had a mixed group of people, with some professional food industry people as well as groups of friends just out for an enjoyable day.  Where there is food to talk about, everyone seems to get along nicely.

 

The Food Tour, Progressive Dinners and Progressive Lunches are palatable for all ages spanning from locals (people living in Perth), corporate sector (work socials and activities) to tourists (intrastate, interstate and international).

 

Word of Mouth Food Tours also strives to complement WA’s tourism industry by providing visitors to Perth additional activities to choose from during their stay.  Tourist normally have little time and here is a service where they can attend a food tour and discover where’s-good-to-eat.

 

 

What I love about what I do?

I love food.  I love people.  I love Perth.  These three essential ingredients is what inspired me to start a food tour.  I am extremely passionate about Word of Mouth Food Tours and love everything about it.

 

 

A few paragraphs on my background?

My father was a chef all his life having owned and cooked at many restaurants in Melbourne.  My older sister and I were raised in the restaurant industry; literally living upstairs in one of the restaurants my father owned in Toorak.  From a young age we ordered our food from the restaurant menu and waitresses served our dinners for us.  At dinner we sometimes ate snails, frog legs, Sauerkraut, Leberwurst, Goulash, Tongue, Gordon Bleu’s and soufflés.  It really depended on what were the specials for the night. For my sister and I Brussell Sprouts was a breeze!

 

Before moving to Perth in 1980 my father owned some very successful restaurants in Melbourne which made him one of the select few Chefs people would follow.

 

In 2003 my father received the prestigious Les Toques Blanches “Pioneers of the industry” award.

 

The Les Toques Blanches (or White Hat) award is presented to Chefs who have made an outstanding contribution to the restaurant industry through their dedication and efforts.  Below is some additional information about my father (we share the same name) and the restaurants he was associated with.

 

Master Chef and Pioneer of the Industry Otto Kamenzin, was distinguished as one of Melbourne's greatest chefs of the 50's, 60's and 70's, Otto served his apprenticeship in cooking in Bremen, Germany and some time after completion he joined the merchant navy and traveled the world as a cook and chef.  On his first encounter with Australia, working on the Castell Felice, Otto he liked what he saw and decided to stay.  That was 1955, one year before many more great adventuress chefs arrived on our shores for the Melbourne Olympic Games.

 

Otto spent a short time in Tasmania before returning to Melbourne.  Here he spent 11 years leading the kitchen brigade at Antonios, a fine dining restaurant in Toorak, the best that Melbourne offered at the time.

 

He then opened the Lido Theatre Restaurant in the city and two years later became the opening chef at La Casa de Manana in St. Kilda Rd.  Otto enjoyed the challenge of furnishing and opening new kitchens, and putting his thumbprint and direction on them for other brigades after him.

 

Le Chateau in Queens Road, a place of grandeur, was his next move and then in Camberwell at the Black Knight where Otto created some memorable dining experiences for his loyal customers who followed him from place to place.

 

This led Otto to venture out into his own establishments.  First there was La Bouffe in the city, then Martins in Port Melbourne and followed by Rabelais in Toorak Road. Then came the need for a change of scenery and Otto and his family moved to Western Australia, in Perth to face more culinary challenges where another aspect of the hospitality industry was experienced when Otto operated a function centre for a number of years…….

 

A little about me.  When I left school I joined the bank but after a short time realised I wanted to work with my hands.  I started an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic and progressed in the industry for the next ten years.  During my apprenticeship I received various awards including apprentice of the year at technical college, overall apprentice of the year for WA, winning the workskills competition for WA and coming 6th overall in Australia, winning a $10,000 grant and being the first ever person to gain a scholarship with the Mitsubishi factory in Adelaide.  For the next ten years I continued my working career in the car industry from Mechanic to Head Technician and finishing my career as the Apprentice Trainer.

 

From the car industry I changed paths to working with children.  I worked with the Starlight Children’s Foundation as Captain Starlight in Princess Margaret Hospital for two years.  After Starlight, I changed paths again and my Olympic Torch Relay journey began.  For the next seven years I worked on Torch Relays for two Summer Olympic Games (Sydney 2000 and Athens in 2004), one Paralympic Games, one Winter Olympic Games (Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002), two Commonwealth Games (Manchester in 2002 and Melbourne 2006), one Asian Games (in the Middle) and also a Rugby World Cup (2003).  During this time I moved from a bus driver on my very first Olympic Games at Sydney to Senior Logistical Advance Manager on the core planning team on my last Games.

 

Now, I’ve decided it’s time to settle and make a home.   I have capitalised on the skills and experience I’ve learnt during my working career and combined that with my life long passion - love for food.

 

 

Where did the idea for Word of Mouth Food Tours originate?

I have a love of food through my father being a chef all his life.  The idea came to me last year when I was conducting a wine tour out in the Swan Valley.  I thought, why  can’t we do the same but instead of tasting different wines, tasting different foods at different restaurants and cafes.  So for the next few months, I drafted a business plan and created Word of Mouth Food Tours.

 

 

What do you hope patrons come away with from the day/evening?

I hope patrons on the Food Tour discover something new, learn something from the venues or from the people behind the scenes.  I hope patrons on the Food Tour return to those venues they liked and become a new customer.

 

On the progressive dinners and progressive lunches, I hope patrons return to those venues to sit and enjoy the full dining experience.  It’s an opportunity for people to discover new restaurants and cafés.  Perhaps break the barriers for people north of the river to discover the south, and visa versa.

 

 

What criteria do you use to choose participating venues?

Venues which offer something different, interesting or unique.  Venues which are well know and established along with venues that are new or off the beaten track.

 

 

How do you think the Perth food scene compares to its eastern states counterparts?

I believe Perth’s food scene is catching up to our Eastern States counterparts. Admittedly, we still have a long way to go, but over the past ten years Perth’s food culture has develop at a rapid rate of knots.

 

There are a hand-full of restaurant scattered around Perth that are showing their mark in the food industry by creating radical dishes and other fashionable food creations. Despite Perth people being conservative, we are exploring our palates by experimenting with food.  Something which we were afraid of 10-15 years ago.

 

I think we do give the Eastern states a run-for-their-money!

 

 

Do you believe the people of Perth are exposed to a wide enough variety and quality of food?

Perth has more restaurants per capita than any city in Australia.  As a result Perth people are becoming more adventuress with their tastes.  This is evident by the amount of different cuisines and ethnic foods available.  Looking around Perth we have eating hubs in Northbridge, West Perth, North Perth, East Perth, Fremantle, Leederville, Subiaco, Highgate, Mt Lawley, Vic Park, Ardross, Claremont, Mt Hawthorn offering local dishes to African, Asian, Caribbean, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Halal, Indian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Moroccan, Nepalese, Spanish, Sri Lankan, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese foods which now is so readily available in Perth.

 

Perth people are becoming more discerning with food.  This is shown by what is listed on the menus.  Gone are the days of your standard pastas, meets and two vegg dishes.  Now we have choices from Wagyu beef, capretto, truffles, duck confit garnished with Fennel.

 

 

Where do you believe there are areas for improvement?

I believe the restaurant industry is buoyant and it’s an exciting time to be involved in the Perth food scene.  People are eating out more because they have a higher disposable income and therefore people can afford to go out and have a nice dinner experience.

 

Room for improvement lies with the consumer, we must support the industry and allow restaurants to explore the different flavours and taking food to new levels.

 

 

What are your plans for the future?

Keep everything food related and offer additional products which cater for all tastes.

 

Initially work on the day tours, progressive dinners and progressive lunches to build its own momentum and then introduce half day tours, Market Tours, Cooks Tour, Chilli Tours, Coffee Tours, Food For Kids Tours, walking food tours and national / international food tours.

 

 

What is your short term and long term vision for the company?

Short term: To create public awareness about the Food Tours and Progressive Dinners and Progressive Lunches.

 

Long term: For local people living in Perth a means to discover, or rediscover, Perth’s food culture.  To also complement WA’s tourism and hospitality industry by establishing a means for visitors to explore Perth’s food culture as well as providing tourist additional activities to choose from during their stay.

 

Progressive dinners and progressive lunches to compliment the hospitality industry by introducing new venues and cuisines to diners and become socially accepted as means to go out on special occasion, work social or simply wanting to dine out with friends.