Tastefull Tours!

I mentioned a few months ago how my friend, Chef Laura, was let go by a local market via a note attached to her paycheck. After ten years.

You know, there's a special place for employers who fire people like that. Or say, the ones who tell you you're going to take over the business when they retire and then turn around and let you go four weeks before your second baby is born. Ha! Wow, that's still there, is it? I thought I was over that.

Anyway, instead of sitting around and being bitter, Laura decided to use this as the opportunity to go full steam ahead into a business idea she and her friend, also named Laura, had for a while. They both have a passion for good food and decided they'd like to share that passion with Metro Detroiters.

So Tastefull Tours was born.

They organize these tours that take you around to fabulous culinary locations throughout the area, on The Night Move biodiesel bus. These are places you may never have known about or may have been too intimidated to go into on your own. I went on a tour and the Noble Fish sushi guy made me fall in love with him (fed me lots of sushi). We visited a meat guy at the Royal Oak Farmer's Market and I am now forever ruined for regular store-bought bacon. (Here's a picture of me doing something stupid with my stupid face. GAH!)

One of my favorite things is listening to people talk about what they're passionate about. On our tour I wanted to hug one of the Julian Brothers at his bakery when he held up a couple loaves of his bread for a picture, the pride was so evident. I don't have a passion for wine, but I could have listened to the Cloverleaf guy talk about wine for an hour. And I know I like bacon, a lot, but listening to the pig farmer talk about what makes his bacon the best was so touching...I mean even though he kills pigs. (They are well fed and cared for before that!)

Saturday Laura's leading a special Valentine's Day tour, a pizza and wine adventure....

We love pizza!!!  We've traveled all over metro Detroit and found the best.  Join us on a pizza adventure as we sample thick and thin, white and red (in wines too!) traditional and unusual toppings.  We will also stop by a favorite wine shop for a tasting (included in the price of the tour) and suggestions for the perfect beverage to go with your favorite pizza.  Additional wines can be purchased and taken along for additional tastings on the bus! What a great way to celebrate love.

I'm planning on being there and so is Logan. I know you wanted to spend your Valentine's Day with me. For the hugs.

Make sure you check out their other tours. Logan and our friend Tom went on the Beer and BBQ tour and loved it.

Comments

[jdg]

I heard them both on WDET the other day. sounds cool: I especially like the idea of them taking people to places where they might not be comfortable going alone.

[Lisa]

Very cool! I love the sound of this. I've posted it to my FaceBook for my local friends.

[merry jennifer]

That is actually a fabulous business idea. I would go on one of the tours in a heartbeat -- if I lived in Michigan and not Florida. Congrats to your friend for overcoming adversity and striking out with her own idea!

[Tam]

What a great idea. I live in Lansing and my boyfriend lives in Sterling Heights and we are always looking for fun things to do and good places to eat in the Detroit area. We are so going to check this out. And even better that the tours leave from our future neighborhood!!!

[Kristin]

What fun! I wish someone would do this in Minneapolis! Have fun Saturday night!

[lousoz]

Haven't been to that "market" since you posted about her being let go like that. They can shove their overpriced groceries.

The tours sound like a great idea. We might have to look into that. It's too late for us to get a Valentine's Day sitter, otherwise we'd be all over it.

Oh, and Julian Brothers? My 2nd home. I credit them with 25 of the 50 lbs I gained with my first pregnancy. Their catering is awesome for parties and we are there at least once if not twice a week for bread. They are awesome. Anna loves them because they give a free little cookie to the kids that come in. :)

[Amy]

Sounds like a great business venture! Not only for tourists but the locals too. All the best to them both.

[Sarah]

If my friends and I didn't live in the UK, we'd be straight on that bus. We just like food. And eating food.

[mar]

What a fabulous idea! And there is Logan's picture on the home page! They should sell franchises! Best of luck to them.

[Barbara]

I love this idea! I hope they're promoted by the tourist industry. I'd love to do this in any city I was visiting. Even makes me want to leave Seattle to visit Detroit. I checked out their website - um - must say that didn't impress me at all, left me cold actually, wouldn't have gotten the same first impression re the tours had I not already heard about Laura. But I'd go on a tour in a heartbeat.

[Karen]

Wow - those tours sound like great fun...almost (but not quite!) makes me wish I still lived in the Detroit area!!

[elizabeth in ATL]

man, I wish I lived in the area, or even visited occasionally. such a cool concept. I hope they do very well and expand - to Atlanta!

[joaaanna]

In that picture Logan appears to be looking at you as if to say, "Why? Why do you close your eyes every time a camera clicks." I think you look cute though!

[lisa]

those tours sound like fun. we're going to have to get our usual group of friends together and go...sadly too late for us to go valentine's day, we have a wedding to go to ~ who get's married on valentine's day?

[Ginny]

How did I miss that story about being fired 4 weeks before your second baby was born? I thought I was all caught up on my BlissHistory (Blisstory?) What happened there? Also,in that picture you look like you're laughing at something goofy your husband said. Cute!

Sounds fun. If I were in Detroit though, there is only one pizza place I would need to go. Buddy's!

But I am all about the wine tour.

[Tammy]

Wow, makes me almost wish I lived in Detroit! Those sound like fun! I wish she was in Orange County.

[Kim]

I wish was visiting Detroit sometime soon. There is something like this at the Pike Place Market in Seattle that I've been dying to try. Here is the link if your friend wants to check it out. Apparently, it explores all the "best" purveyors in the Market. People love it.
http://www.savorseattletours.com/?source=gaw&kw=taste-pike-place-market-br&gclid=CI7ToZ6u1ZgCFRBbagodXh1B0g

[Rebecca]

Foodies are among the most passionate people too! I love this idea, it makes you appreciate the basics a bit more. Tell them to start one in Madison soon!

[jendajen]

Genius. Pure genius! OK, Detroit metro area... First the Zombie Walks, now this? You're making Seattle look boring!

I wanna go on that pizza and wine night. Two of my favorite things!

[Miss Elizabeth]

Melissa, I clicked the link to the photo that allegedly exhibits dumbface, and I can tell you: You are not doing something dumb with your dumb face in that photo; you are doing something CUTE with your HOT face. See, the entire reason I started reading Suburban Bliss was because Dooce posted some photos of y'all goofing off on some girly weekend somewhere and I thought, "Wow, Melissa kinda looks like Corin Tucker." That means you are CUTE and HOT. I started reading this blog because you are cute and hot. So that is not a dumb face; it is a cute, hot face!

[m]

hey there.Ouch. That "let go four weeks before second baby born" place? Yeah. I did a little bit of time there (and connected w/ou a couple years back). Your family is seriously better off without that particular monkey on your backs. That place was F-R-E-A-K-Y. The staff b-day parties were the most awkward "social" occasions I've ever experienced. (Hi, Logan)

[m]

oops. didn't mean to imply that logan made the b-day parties awkward. Anything but. I recall him acting inappropriately though at the parties. Or maybe that was in the upstairs lobby when we were told "look, look at this table. this is pure artistic genius. You will appreciate!"

[KYouell]

Maybe by the time we move from the burbs to PDX proper they'll have something cool like this... but with childcare included.

[Elaine at Lipstickdaily]

What a great business . . . and what great chutzpah to pick up and make something happen! Great post, great blog, great friends. Thanks!