Providence to host food tourism conference

THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE will play host to Taste Trekkers, a food tourism conference, this fall.  / PBN FILE PHOTO
THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE will play host to Taste Trekkers, a food tourism conference, this fall. / PBN FILE PHOTO

PROVIDENCE – Seth Resler, former program director at WBRU and founder of Mystery Meet, a San Francisco –based social dining community that brings together culinary enthusiasts for meals at a mystery location, will launch Taste Trekkers, a food tourism conference, in Providence this fall.

On his Mystery Meet website Resler said the conference, still in planning stages, will feature a cocktail reception, tasting pavilion, group dinner, food truck circle and breakout sessions designed around regional cuisines.

Resler wrote on his website that he chose Providence to be host to what he said will the nation’s first such conference based on his history with the city and its culinary reputation and specifically new endeavors that have broadened Providence’s dining appeal beyond the “legendary” Italian restaurants of Federal Hill.

“When I saw that Travel + Leisure magazine had named Providence the nation’s top culinary destination, the decision became a no-brainer,” Resler wrote. “I love the idea of taking a smaller city that has made great strides and helping it showcase its talent. My goal is to bring a couple hundred passionate foodies and not only show them how to explore the rest of the world through food, but also to show them everything that Providence has to offer.”

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The conference is set for Sept. 21 and Resler next month will launch a kickstarter.com crowd-funding campaign to raise capital for the event. He said his long-term goal is to also hold the conference in other regions around the country.

Resler worked at WBRU as a Brown University undergraduate before embarking on a broadcasting career that took him all over the country before returning to Providence in 2003 and becoming WBRU’s program director. He launched QuickWhatsUp.com, an event production company, in 2007 and produced many restaurant and bartending competitions. He left Providence in 2010 for the San Francisco bay area where he runs Mystery Meet, which began in Boston in 2010 and has events in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis with plans to expand, and the company’s Find Dining Podcast, a nationwide culinary travel broadcast.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. We’re THRILLED to be bringing this event to Providence. The Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise the capital begins in March. In the meantime, you are invited to tell us what you’d like to see at the conference:

    http://mysterymeet.org/culinary-travel-survey/

    Seth Resler
    Founder, Mystery Meet

  2. Our Kickstarter campaign has launched! You can help bring this event to Providence here:

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mysterymeet/taste-trekkers-food-tourism-conference

    Seth Resler
    Producer, Taste Trekkers Conference