About Us

About Laurel Manor

In 1958, John Del Signore left his hometown in Fonte d’Amore, Italy, to join other Del Signore men working in Venezuela’s construction industry. There, the men worked hard but ate well as they each took turns cooking old family favorites from home. After almost ten years, John decided to leave Venezuela to embark on a future in the United States, but not before first returning to Fonte d’Amore to marry Lina.

About Laurel Manor

In 1964, John and Lina opened DiGiovanni’s Pizzeria in Livonia, and later the Italian Hut. This was eventually replaced by Fonte d’Amore restaurant, a long-standing Del Signore landmark featuring home-cooked Italian food that had drawn rave reviews by restaurant-goers from all over the metropolitan Detroit area for more than 25 years.

Encouraged by their loyal restaurant patrons, in 1989, the Del Signores opened Laurel Manor Banquet & Conference Center. This popular wedding & reception location continues to be the measure of excellence by which other metro Detroit reception sites strive to compete. Weddings and social events became the heart of the family’s success. From the beginning, serving customers has been a family affair. John and Lina’s children and grandchildren have all taken part in working in the family business.

They believe that the main reason for Laurel Manor’s continued success is the family’s emphasis on quality, home-cooked food and the pride they take in every dish that is served-whether it’s the first one out of the oven, or the 1000th!

About Our Chef

His laid-back style could mislead you into thinking that “Chef Greg,” has a low-key job with little pressure. But then you take a look around, on any given weekend, in the 14,000 square foot kitchen at Laurel Manor and you realize – Executive Chef Greg Vitale just makes it look easy!

Greg VitaleAs a graduate of Schoolcraft College’s renowned Culinary Arts program, Chef Vitale has been around kitchens since he was 13 years old. Starting out as a dishwasher at a private yacht club, within eight years Vitale worked his way up to Sous-Chef. In 1989, Greg was brought on board as Executive Chef at Laurel Manor, where he continues to work his magic today.

“Chef Greg” and his staff of up to 15 combine the freshest ingredients for all of our events…anything from hand rolled pasta in our signature Tronchetto lasagna, to our homemade Italian sausage. You can select from a pre-designed menu or custom design a unique menu with themed, or culturally infused, dishes. His goal at Laurel Manor is to provide great quality food from the first dish served to the very last.

“We’re very fortunate to have such a creative and accommodating executive chef,” remarks Mr. Del Signore – Owner of Laurel Manor.

He prepares individually plated, intimate, dinners for as little as 50 people one night, and hors d’oeuvres for a marketplace setting of up to 2200 people on another night. It goes without saying that he cooks a lot of extraordinary dishes.

What it really comes down to is that Greg just loves to cook! – and guests at Laurel Manor love it when he does.

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Remodel Complete!

We finished our ballroom remodel at the end of January with all new flooring, paint & lighting upgrades! See the updates at the link or follow us on Social Media to see more of our fresh new look!

Laurel Manor's ballroom renovations are completed!

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