About

Our Story

Melting Pot Food Tours was co-founded by sisters, Lisa and Diane Scalia, in 2008. The Scalia sisters are the perfect food tour tasting team, sharing their experience and passion to host guests on truly unique culinary experiences. Natives and lifelong residents of the Los Angeles area, Diane and Lisa are distinctly qualified to explore, share and celebrate the depth of L.A.’s culinary heritage.

Diane Scalia

Diane Scalia, a self-proclaimed Chefpreneur, cares deeply about her desire to bring people to the table. Having started as a caterer, by now she has taught children of all ages how to cook, styled food for television and radio, consulted for esteemed clients as Sunkist Growers and the Avocado Information Board, published her own cookbook, served sushi in-house for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, and hosted a private cooking lesson with the late, great Julia Child. With Mediterranean cuisine her specialty, she was Tapas Bar Chef at BarComida (Redondo Beach) for four years where her original small plates rendered rave reviews. Her passion for world cultures – especially their people and foods – makes her feel very lucky to walk in her own shoes as Tour Maestra for Melting Pot Tours.

Lisa Scalia

Lisa Scalia, a mid-life career changer, parlayed her in-depth knowledge of LA and her lifelong love affair with food into Melting Pot Food Tours, the first food tour company of its kind in southern California. An avid traveler, Lisa started her travels abroad at age 16 and over the years has logged trips to 5 continents including several extended road trips to all corners of the United States. After a successful 20 year career in real estate, Lisa opted to change course and indulge her entrepreneurial spirit in an enterprise combining her two biggest passions – food and travel. Lisa’s goal through Melting Pot Food Tours is to offer fun and memorable experiences which celebrate the exceptional, local, authentic and mouthwatering cuisine of independently owned establishments one can only find in and around Los Angeles.

Together, the Scalia sisters are well suited to select the most interesting and intriguing neighborhoods and foodie hot spots for their top-rated food tasting tours. Melting Pot Food Tours has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Conde-Nast Traveler, Sunset Magazine, Tasting Table, AAA Westways Magazine, AARP online, Los Angeles Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, and Pasadena Star News, as well as on the CBS Evening News and the KTLA Morning News with Gayle Anderson.