By Renee Unsworth| Correspondent
After just three years in town, St. Augustine Experiences has been voted Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice 2022 Best of the Best for Top Wine, Beer & Spirits Experiences in the world.
Not Best in Floridaor Best in the United States. Best in the world.
And it makes sense since so many peoplevacation in the Ancient City for its history, attractions and, for the past 10 to 15 years, the vibrant food and spirits scene.
Specifically, Tripadvisor reviewed The Perfect Pairing: Wine, co*cktail and Food Experience, which includes a visit to three St. Augustine restaurants and bars in the historic district.
“We have worked with some incredible locations over the years, including Casa de Vino 57, Carrera Wine Cellar, The Floridian, Boat Drinks, Mojo Old City BBQ, Drunken Horse, Bar Harbor Cheesecake and Forgotten Tonic,” said Alex Drywa, co-owner of St. Augustine Experiences. “Our tours are ever-evolving, so we are always looking for new food to feature and switch up our stops based on day of the week, season or reservation availability.”
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Drywa and his business partner, Garry Zafrani, have been running historic and culinary walking tours in New York City for 12 years with their first company, Manhattan Walking Tour.
“When we first started, my partner Garry mentioned to me that he had just bought a place in St. Augustine, so he invited me to visit. I still remember the first time I turned off Route 1 into downtown and instantly fell in love with this city,” Drywa said. “We were so busy getting New York off the ground, though, St. Augustine was just my place to escape. It took nine years of visiting, studying the history, and making friends before we finally felt comfortable opening in 2019.”
The St. Johns County Visitors and Convention Bureau credits the Mumford & Sons "Gentlemen of the Road Tour" in 2013 with bringing a new audience to St. Augustine to discover the culinary scene.
“That event brought a group of affluent young people who discovered our area as walkable, with great food, and affordable offerings, and that has helped spur on the food and culinary scene here,” said Richard Goldman, president and chief executive officer of the St. Johns County Visitors and Convention Bureau.
“The destination has really gone from a handful of decent restaurants to becoming a mecca of great restaurants where chefs want to be and create,” Goldman said. “For instance, The Drunken Horse, a newer restaurant on Charlotte Street, also has a property in Manhattan.”
In addition, the St. Augustine Distillery Company, located in the renovated circa-1907 Ice Plant building, opened in 2014, and attracts spirits aficionados to the nation’s oldest city from all over. It's award-winning craft spirits include Florida cane vodka, gin, rum, and bourbon. A sister location called City Gate Spirits opened on Saint George Street, offering flavored vodkas, moonshine, whiskey and rum.
Other recent accolades include Southern Living magazine naming St. Augustine the top "Foodie City" in the South in 2019. In addition, Collage restaurant on Hypolita Street has been in the Top 100 Restaurants in America by OpenTable for four consecutive years.
“The beauty of the Tripadvisor recognition is that St. Augustine Experiences was recommended more than any other culinary tour in the world,” Goldman said. “St. Augustine now houses one of the best experiences in the world!”
Other St. Augustine Experiences tours include the Ale Trail Craft Beer & History Experience; the Not Just a Chocolate Tour; a new Dining at Twilight tour; and the St. Augustine History Tour. In partnership with St. Augustine Sailing, the Land & Sea Experiences, which includes a morning or afternoon charter on a beautiful yacht, paired with a culinary-themed walking tour on the same day.
In addition to the public tours, the company can create customized tours for wedding weekends; bachelor and bachelorette parties; family reunions; birthdays; team-building; corporate outings; and other special occasions. Learn more at staugustineexperiences.com.
Drywa had no idea that the Perfect Pairings tour was No. 1 on the Tripadvisor list until peoplestarted telling him.
“This was a complete shock! A very happy shock, and we were beyond elated!” he said.“My favorite part of the tours is meeting new people from around the country and world every day. I've made so many good friends over the past 12 years who started as my guests on tour. One of our biggest markets in NYC was northeast Florida, so when we began building our tours, we had so many awesome friends in the 904 area code to come test our tours before launching. We recently had a family visit St. Augustine from Leeds in the U.K. They did their first tour with us nine years ago in New York City. It was so exciting to have them on our tour here and introduce them to all the amazing restaurants and partners we've made in St. Augustine.”
