Darren Park of Four Seasons Tours personifies the new movement. A proud Newfoundlander who has never left the island, this quiet local celebrity has toured and fed renowned chefs, a global array of film crews and hundreds of casual vacationers looking for an authentic taste of the Rock. His summer chariot of choice is an orange and green dory handcrafted by a retired fisherman.

As the dory pulls out of Cox’s Cove just north of Corner Brook and into the Bay of Islands — the water’s a touch “loppy” today, Park warns — a bald eagle appears, soaring lazily overhead before alighting on top of a tall fir on the shoreline. It can spot the dory from kilometres away and knows there’s the possibility of swooping in to grab a fish as it’s thrown back. (An increasing number of Park’s tours are geared to photographers eager to capture eagles in their viewfinders.)

Cast, let the line hit bottom, reel it up five turns, give it a tug. Success is instant. Within a half hour, the crew of four has reeled in three cod, a couple of ocean perch and a nasty looking sculpin. At this time of year, it’s only open season for cod on the weekends, so back they go. No worries, though, as Park has a cooler full of cod in the back of the dory and, when we tire of fishing, we head across the cove to his summer cabin for a classic beach boil-up.

Within minutes, a driftwood fire is burning brightly, a pot of mussels steaming on the grill. Ready almost instantly, they are, quite simply, divine. What’s his secret? “The sweetness of the sea,” says Park. His recipe: fresh mussels boiled in seawater. That simple; that good.

Then it’s into his homey cabin for pan-fried cod, a plate of smoked Atlantic salmon made by one of Park’s friends and a swoon-worthy cod au gratin made by his wife, Anita, with fresh potatoes from their garden. A professional recipe developer on the tour begs for her secrets.

Fresh cinnamon rolls complete the feast. And all the while, there is Park telling his fish tales, making every guest feel at home. “The smiles tell the story,” he says. “Being out on the water and helping someone catch their first fish — that’s what it’s about.”

After a day on the water with Park, the Marble Inn Resort just east of Corner Brook offers up luxury accommodations on the Humber River and a casual-fine dining menu at Madison’s, where the culinary chemistry involves using local and seasonal ingredients to produce inspired takes on traditional Newfoundland cuisine. So, think scallops, but with a grenadine reduction and apple salad; think Codroy Valley lamb, but braised as a masala and served with sumac spinach; think mussels from the island’s west coast, but dished up with spicy Nduja sausage. Then think about saving room for the honey and whiskey mousse.

Meanwhile, at the nearby seaside communities of Norris Point and Woody Point, husband-and-wife team Ian and Rebecca Stone tempt food-focused travellers with insider access to the best of local restaurants through their Taste of Gros Morne tours.

Part of a new wave of food entrepreneurs, they revel in “letting people know where the good places to eat are.” A typical tour is intimate, maxing out at eight people who Rebecca guides through three or four restaurants, highlighting appetizers at one, a main at another, perhaps a dessert at the third. The dishes are resolutely homegrown — delectable lobster dumplings at the Bonne Bay Inn’s Blue Ocean Dining Room, say, or a massive slab of fresh pan-fried cod at super casual The Old Loft Restaurant. “Years ago, if you could get stuff from far away you thought it was fancy,” she says. “Now we’re finally appreciating local.”