New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- When you think of Beverly Hills, your mind naturally conjures up palm-lined boulevards, manicured estates, Rodeo Drive storefronts-and of course, Pretty Woman. But there's more to this fabled enclave beyond the glitz and glamour.

On an unusually warm early October morning, I join Brian Rodda, founder of LA Food Tours, on a gourmet walk in Beverly Hills. Rodda pulls out a handful of lima beans from his pocket, and says, "The area was largely lima bean fields until the early 1900s, when a group of investors bought the land hoping to strike oil. When that didn't pan out, they decided to develop a residential community, naming it Beverly Hills after Beverly Farms in Massachusetts, a nod to the area's rolling hills." The...