The Bird & The Bread is owned and operated by the Jonna Family, who have been in the food and wine business for over 40 years.
Over the years our family has enjoyed sharing wine, food, and spirits through our love of experimentation and education.
Kristin Jonna
Kristin Jonna is one of the leading wine entrepreneurs in Metropolitan Detroit. She worked alongside her father in their gourmet and wine food business, Merchant of Vino, for most of her teenage years. It is there that she gained her passion and enthusiasm for wine and creative cuisine. After graduating from Michigan State University, Kristin moved to Sonoma Valley to spend a year working at Benziger Winery. Working closely with the winemaker and the winery’s hospitality team, she toured throughout California, tasting thousands of wines and analyzing the winemaking process.
In 1994 Kristin returned to Michigan to help run the family business, Merchants Fine Wine, one of the largest wine purveyors in the Midwest (founded originally by the Jonna family as Merchant of Vino). Her newest wine venture is Vinotecca, a unique wine bar, restaurant and retail store that both educates customers and celebrates the art of food and wine pairing. Vinology, her second wine bar opened in Ann Arbor in April 2006.
Kristin travels the world to taste new wines and specialty food products to bring back to metropolitan Detroit. She continues the family traditions of excellence in customer service, product education, and innovative research to advance her wine bars as a leader in the wine, cuisine, and entertainment field.
Kristin has also become a respected speaker on food and wine, both for private and corporate tastings. Her down-to-earth, entertaining style has helped to demystify the often intimidating subject of wine tasting and education. She is a Certified Specialist of Wine by the Society of Wine Educators. She has served as a board member on the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, Associated Food Dealers, Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council, and was president of metro Detroit’s largest wine enthusiast group, the Detroit Wine Organization. She also participates in fundraising for numerous charitable organizations throughout the region.
John Jonna
John Jonna began his climb to professional renown over 30 years ago, in 1970, as one of the founding partners of The Merchant of Vino. While building a seven-store chain that was to become Metro Detroit’s forerunner in gourmet food and wine, he unleashed his passion for specialty foods, cheeses, wine, beer and spirits that elevated the stores and himself to a recognized world-class status.
Over the years, as his knowledge, experience and diversity have grown his passion has never wavered. He constantly travels the world to discover new products and ideas to introduce to his loyal customers at home. In 1994 he founded Merchant’s Fine Wine, a company that has again garnered respect as one of the state’s leaders in education on foods, wine and specialty items of all kinds. He is a member of the Detroit Wine Society and frequently provides educational seminars at private institutions across the state. He has also served on the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council Board.
In 2007, John Jonna sold the Merchant’s Fine Wine chain to pursue a wine bar concept created by himself and his daughter. Together, they have opened two locations in metro Detroit, Vinotecca Wine Bar and Vinology Wine Bar and Restaurant.
John Jonna is the consummate speaker, combining knowledge and humor in a manner which has put him in tremendous demand for both corporate and private tastings, as well as a host for wine tours and food classes around the world. Providing education in an entertaining format, he has successfully gained respect in the wine industry as an entrepreneur and leader in wine sales and education.
Vincent Jonna
Vincent Jonna began his career in the service business at Merchant of Vino with his sister Kristin and father John Jonna. The experience in a successful 7-store chain of gourmet supermarkets set the stage for a commitment to superior service quality and business operations.
Vincent acquired a Masters degree in accounting and started his career working for smaller firms in tax and auditing. He then spent two and half years at KPMG, one of the top 4 accounting firms in the world. His accounting career continued at Clayton & Mckervey where he obtained his CPA certification. Working on large public firms and midsize local firms gave him a good understanding of how both large and small companies structure processes to manage operations efficiently. He focused his time in auditing, internal controls, and small company tax returns.
In 2009 Vincent joined Vinology to bring his financial expertise to his family business or restaurant operations. He helped the company grow over $1 million dollars in sales in just two years. Quickly adapting to the needs of the company, he was able to implement numerous cost saving measures and increase profitability.
In 2011 Vincent created a restaurant management company with his sister, Kristin Jonna, where he serves of Vice President of Finance. The new company, Jonna Management Services, provides full operational services, administrative and accounting support, marketing plans, and consulting services.
Vincent’s continual efforts to maintain and improve services in his various companies have made him a leader in his industry. He will continue to grow his management company by offering both full and limited operational and administrative support to restaurants in need in the region.