Echo Studios Podcast Ep. 2: Denise Righetti on Bringing People Together Through Food
For episode two of the Echo Studios Podcast, I sat down with someone who has made a career out of turning meals into memories. Denise Righetti is the founder of Savor Our City, a culinary event company that has been creating unique food and drink experiences for over a decade, and she’s not slowing down anytime soon.
This conversation felt more like swapping stories over lunch than a formal interview. We got into how she went from working on cruise ships right out of college to running events for 1,500 people, why she believes food is the ultimate connector, and what it takes to build a business that works in multiple cities across the country.
Denise holding her Best of Florida 2024 Event Planner Award
Denise’s story starts on the open sea. At 22, she worked for Royal Caribbean, traveling the world, meeting people from all cultures, and trying dishes she had never heard of before. Years later, while working as a marketing manager in Boca Raton, she noticed the city’s incredible restaurant scene and started creating tasting events to bring people to them. The response was so strong that she eventually left her job and launched her own business.
Her first official event was Taste Atlantic Avenue, a public food tour in Delray Beach where strangers would show up and leave as friends after three hours of eating and walking together. Over time, she realized her sweet spot was creating custom private experiences, not just tours but also cooking classes, mixology competitions, wine tastings, scavenger hunts, and more. Today, she works with big-name corporate clients such as Merrill Lynch and Chewy, as well as conventions, private groups, and even in-home events.
One of the most exciting parts of our conversation was hearing about her upcoming event: Flavors of Boca on December 6th. It is part of Boca Raton’s Centennial celebration and split into two parts. The morning will feature a scavenger hunt through Mizner Park, and the afternoon will offer a self-guided tasting passport with 13 stops, each featuring food and a cocktail from a different decade between the 1920s and the 2020s. VIP guests will enjoy a guided elevated tasting, and part of every ticket sold will benefit Brain Bowl, which supports dementia and Alzheimer’s research.
We also talked about what makes her events work so well. Denise says it’s about connection. With her food tour format, people don’t just sit in one spot for hours; they move around, meet new people at each stop, and experience the city together. For corporate groups, that means better networking and stronger team building. For locals, it means discovering restaurants they didn’t even know existed.
Image from a Savor our City Charcuterie Board Workshop
Beyond that, Denise is scaling her business nationally. She has already built events in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Boston, New York, Denver, and Nashville, each one customized to the city and the group. She has a network of trusted local partners and can build a brand-new tour from scratch in about 30 days.
The best part of this episode is Denise’s energy. You can tell she loves what she does, not just the food and the drinks, but the way people connect when they share them. Whether it’s a corporate mixology competition or a wine tasting in someone’s home, she is all about creating moments people remember.
If you’ve ever thought about starting something of your own, or you just love the idea of eating your way through a city with new friends, this one will make you want to grab a fork and join in.
🎙️ Listen to the episode
Watch it on YouTube or find it wherever you get your podcasts.
🔗 Connect with Denise
Follow @SavorOurCity on Instagram
Visit savorourcity.com for events, the newsletter, and more info on Flavors of Boca at flavorsofboca.com
