A chance reunion led college friends to host culinary tours

More than 20 years after Laura Gononian and Laura Romito sang together in the Albion College choir, they ran into each other again -- this time at Williams-Sonoma in Troy, where Gononian was working part-time and Romito was teaching a cooking class.

With their friendship rekindled, they decided one day last summer to drive to Ann Arbor, where Romito -- now a chef -- had gone to graduate school and knew her way around the city's food markets, restaurants and shops.

"We spent the entire day there, basically eating our way through Ann Arbor. It was fabulous," recalls Gononian, 44, who had spent several years living and traveling abroad. On the way home, they talked about how they wanted to return with more friends.

"We could do this as a business!" Gononian said.

But what they imagined as mostly an entertainment option for other foodies now feels like a business with a larger purpose: They see it as a way to raise awareness of small, independent food businesses.

Gononian and Romito search out locally owned restaurants, wine shops, bakeries, ethnic markets, farms and other food sources they deem different and worthwhile.

Taste-Full Tours visit ethnic markets or restaurants, tour Royal Oak and Ann Arbor and explore themes like baked goods, barbecue or pizza.

"We bring in customers who might not find a place on their own or be comfortable going there the first time ... so hopefully they'll come back on their own," said Romito, 41.

At Supino Pizzeria in Eastern Market, part of a pizza-and-wine tour, owner Dave Mancini said the tour generated a surprising number of return customers. "I didn't know what to expect, but this really has been a nice boost," he said.

Karen Larson, 46, of Lathrup Village went on a private tour in Royal Oak with other graphic artists. "I would go back to all of those places," she said. "Four of six places we went were new to me -- and I was surprised, because I get out. It was extremely fun."

When they tell owners what they want to do, Gononian and Romito get mixed reactions at first. When the shop owners realize the women will be bringing them a busload of potential customers, "they start thinking it might be a nice thing," Gononian said.

"We thought it would be fun, and it is," she said of their 4-month-old business. "This is what we want to do, and we have expansion plans. ... We're happy to promote these local businesses. They're gems, and we don't want them to go away."