elwin & co.

Last I was there they only had take out service. It is worth a side trip from where ever you are going. Their scones are the best and the service is very friendly.

Love the scones especially the savory ones! Wish they had more than one savory choice per day. The food to go is great, just know that everything is frozen, so don't show up too hungry. I have had the lasagna, soup and several other daily offerings. All were great. Perfect for homemade tastes with no effort on your part. Always friendly as well. :-)

Elwin's frozen entrees to go are a GREAT option for dinner or lunch. Easy to reheat - and simply marvelous tasting - generous portions for the cost!! We'd rather stay home with a nice bottle of wine and Elwin's lobster mac any day!!

As if selling the most scrumptious scones around wasn’t enough, Elwin Greenwald has earned bragging rights for his chicken soup too. On Jan. 27, the warm and friendly proprietor of Elwin & Co. won “People’s Choice — Best Chicken Soup” in the professional division of Temple Shir Shalom’s Chicken Soup Cook-off in West Bloomfield.Greenwald’s trophy with a golden chicken on top -- “It’s adorable,” he says -- resides at his niche bakery in Berkley. Elwin & Co., sporting a blue awning, is next door to Chet's Rent-All on Coolidge Highway and across from Bagger Dave's. When it comes to Greenwald’s very rich-tasting soup, “the trick is to make a real chicken stock.” He described the process to me, including which ingredients and spices go into his stockpot. Paprika is a given because of his Hungarian heritage. Greenwald, a Cass Tech graduate, earned a graphic arts degree at College for Creative Studies. His future career was shaped while in Annecy, located in the foothills of the French Alps. He studied with Chef Madeleine Kamman and apprenticed nearby at L’Auberge restaurant. Greenwald learned to combine “French techniques with a Jewish way of cooking,” i.e., the cuisine he grew up with. Returning after six months to the fine-dining Van Dyke Place, Greenwald had earned a higher chef’s position. Ten years later, in Fall 1990, Greenwald left to open Elwin’s to Go on Lafayette Street, one of the first spots in Royal Oak with an outdoor cafe.He first focused on making scones at the request of chocolatier Gayle Harte, his first wholesale customer. “The former Coffee Exchange began buying my scones at Gayle’s Chocolates to go with their coffee,” says Greenwald. Greenwald’s business has always been a family affair. Chief cheerleader Dale Thayer, his partner of 36 years, laid the first store’s tiled floor; his invaluable sister Judy Greenwald has handled bookkeeping and counter sales for nearly 12 years, and their widowed mother Ruth Greenwald, who died at age 91 in November 2012, helped from the start. “She worked every single day till she got sick,” says Greenwald, who always tried out his Workmen’s Circle Yiddish lessons with her. With business “bursting at the seams,” the renamed Elwin & Co. bought its building in Berkley. Greenwald thanks God for their success and also “our delicious food, hard work, having my mother and sister, and hiring good employees.” The six include manager Tony Anthony, who started as a dishwasher, “and can run the whole place if we’re away,” says Greenwald. Deanna Knibbs, a JARC client, cleans up and helps with cooking. “No one can scoop cookies as fast as she can,” he says. “I’m crazy about her; she likes my corny jokes.” Jay Rose, a key longtime employee, makes dough for the scones and cookies. “Our fancy-shmancy chocolate cherry cookie is like a chocolate-dipped cherry mixed into a cookie,” Greenwald says.Elwin & Co. offers more than 20 varieties of scones, including fat-free. Unlike other scones, these aren’t too dry. Among the sweet, Raspberry White Chocolate is the favorite “hands down.” (That’s true for me too, plus I like Peach Pecan.) Cinnamon Twist is second, but Sea Salt Chocolate Caramel is moving up. Among the savory, Spinach and Cheddar is No. 1, though Greenwald himself prefers Onion Poppy Seed. Upscale markets carry his scones and Elwin & Co. can also put them into custom food gift baskets or bereavement trays.Enhancing his menu, Greenwald prepares and freezes batches of chili, soups, stews, fresh poached salmon patties, chicken pot pie and more for carryout. You will adore his macaroni and cheese! I got one that included asparagus and wild mushrooms.The versatile Greenwald also has taught cooking classes in the community and catered Shabbat dinners where he and Thayer worship in Troy. The store hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, 8:30 to 2 Saturday.