Meet Evan Berger

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Evan Berger. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Evan below.

Evan, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I don’t necessarily think of myself as creative, but when I talk to other people, I realize, I don’t necessarily view things the same way other people do and I feel like that’s a form of creativity, to be able to think outside the “norm”. I love brainstorming ideas, starting on one topic and then bouncing around and back and forth. It gets my brain going and keeps me thinking about all the things and different ideas and/or different ways to think about things .

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Hi. I am Evan and I am a female and I LOVE what I do. I started a walking food and drink tour called Tasted Santa Barbara Food Tours about 10 years ago as a side gig. At the time, I was working as a technical project manager, I loved my job, but also knew that I needed more.

My cousin had started a tour and my when my mom found out, she called me and was like “YOU HAVE GOT TO DO THIS” I remember the call so vividly. I was at a en engagement part at a wine/beer bar, there was a macaron tower and I had stepped outside to talk to my mom, who was so excited to tell me about this idea. the idea of creating a walking food and drink tour in Santa Barbara was mentioned to me by my mom. I remember thinking, cool, but that isn’t for me. As the days went on, the idea of starting a walking food & drink tour would pop into my head and I would ask myself and my mom, why do you think I should do this?

About a year later, it hit me. I love Santa Barbara. I LOVE showing people around. I love telling stories. I love meeting new people and I love connecting people. I LOVE feeding people but not cooking the food. I also realized early on when people (myself included) go out to eat, we would tend to order the same food at the same places. Why didn’t we branch out more? Why didn’t we want to commit? I also knew that I had a love for coordinating and putting together experiences, especially experiences that had to do with food and wine. Once the epiphany hit, I knew I had to do it, especially because one of my best friends encouraged me a lot. So, there I went. I was working full time by day and working on food tour stuff by night. And my friends and I set out to do all the research and development. I even took a course in Chicago to help teach me about putting a food tour together.

After a lot of research, eating, drinking, walking and talking and so many practice tours Taste Santa Barbara Food Tours launched. Offering one tour in downtown Santa Barbara. Tours were offered to the public to sign up for on the days I “worked” from home and weekends. I also offered private experiences, which at the time was pretty much the same as the public tour, but for their specific groups. I was a one woman show and did every single tour for a long time, I remember how I felt before each and every tour for years, I would get this anxious and excited feeling in my belly.

In the 10 or so years, the tour has been through a lot of changes and seems to just get better and better. A few years ago, we launched a downtown taco tour. So many different types of taquerias in one 3.5 hour tour. Private and custom experiences have changed a lot, we have had groups up to 75 or so people in round robins and we have so many more cool partnerships all over Santa Barbara.

As the years have gone on, I have been fortunate enough to bring on some fantastic tour guides. People who share the same love and enthusiasm for sharing our Santa Barbara. With bringing on more guides, we have had the opportunity to offer daily tours that are open to the public to sign up for. We still offer our OG tour, the original downtown tour and the downtown taco tour almost every day. I have had the change to create private tours that are more specific for different groups and I get a real thrill for creating the perfect experience for different types of groups. Since creating the company, I have been pulled in a few different types of directions and love being able to expand out. I have been brought on for a handful of non profit events and helping with the food side of things. Again, I love coordinating, playing with food and connecting with people.

Sorry if I rambled on, I hope you have enjoyed the read and if you get one thing from this, it is my company’s love for what we do and can’t wait to see all of you on one or all of our experiences. Thank you!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
It is ok to doubt yourself, you are going to have moment, let yourself feel and then move on. Trust your intuition, if something feels really wrong, trust your gut.
Brainstorm with people, it gets your brain going and it is really good to keep you accountable.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are always wanting to meet new people and connecting. You never know who you are supposed to meet. We especially love meeting local restaurant, wineries, etc. owners, but we love you even if you aren’t local. One of the things that has come out of Covid is the number of people who would call or email me to talk about ideas of where they should take people when they are in Santa Barbara. It occurred to me that I love events and helping connect food and we are available for hire to be your woman on the ground to help plan itineraries, not just food tours, we can help with a whole lot more!

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Tristin Tracy Photography

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