28 | DECEMBER 17 • 2020 

A
s Michigan’s COVID-19 
restrictions continue to 
be extended, Atlas Wholesale 
Food Company, a 71-year-old 
Detroit-based food distributor 
to local restaurants and casi-
nos, has launched “Rescue MI 
Restaurants,” an initiative to help 
support locally owned restau-

rants by further encouraging 
Metro Detroit residents to order 
carryout and delivery. 
The program is simple: 
Support local restaurants by 
ordering carryout or delivery. 
Take a photo of the receipt, post 
it publicly on Facebook with the 
hashtag #RescueMIRestaurant. 

All posts must properly tag 
the correlating restaurant, list 
the date of the order and total 
amount, including tax and tip. 
Upon seeing the post, Atlas 
will match, dollar for dollar, the 
total amount of the receipt to the 
restaurant in the form of a prod-
uct credit. For example, if a cus-
tomer spends $100, that restau-
rant receives twice the amount 
in the form of $100 in supplies, at 
no cost, from Atlas. 
The program runs through 

Dec. 25 and Atlas will support up 
to $100,000 in total. 
A sample of participating 
restaurants include: Ahmo’s 
Gyro, Detroit Wing Company, 
Fishbones, Kalamata, Kerby’s 
Koney Island, Kouzina, Leon’s, 
Lou’s Deli, National Coney Island, 
Pita Café, Red Olive Restaurants, 
Senate Coney Island, Shields 
Pizza and The Great Greek.
A full list of restaurants can be 
found on the Atlas website, www.
atlaswfc.com. 

T

he homemade taste of 
baked goods from her 
own grandmother’s 
kitchen inspired Jill Bommarito 
to found Ethel’s Baking Co. The 
Michigan-based company spe-
cializes in baking individual des-
sert bars in a variety of flavors. 
The bars are uncommonly 
delicious — I’ve tried a few! — 
and that seems remarkable for 
commercially prepared food. 
Adding to their appeal, the 
treats are gluten-free. They may 
be enjoyed by those with celiac 
disease or sensitivity to wheat, 
barley and rye.
Some potential customers 
will appreciate that the bars are 
also kosher. Packaging bears the 
widely accepted hechsher of the 
Orthodox Union. The “circle 
U” and “D” indicate that the 
dessert bars are certified kosher 

dairy products. Rabbi Simcha 
Smolensky is the O.U.
’s rabbinic 
field representative conducting 
regular inspections of Ethel’s 
Baking Co. in St. Clair Shores. 
The facility opened in December 
2012. 
With Ethel’s growing success 
in achieving “No. 1 in the des-
sert bar category,
” according to 
CEO Bommarito, the company 
is opening a new 19,000-square-
ft production facility in Shelby 
Township. The larger facility 
will allow Bommarito and her 
team — including daughter Lily, 
director of marketing and sales 
— to keep up with demand and 
expand distribution of Ethel’s 
“handmade with love” dessert 
bars. Additional flavors will be 
developed.
“We’re available from coast to 
coast in the United States and 

Canada,
” said Bommarito, whose 
immediate family also includes 
husband, Vince, and their son 
Joseph. 
Her first product starting out 
in 2011 was Pecan Dandy. Like 
most of the bars, it begins with 
Ethel’s signature buttery short-
bread crust. 
“We cover the crust with lay-
ers of flavors — such as caramel 
or pecans,
” Bommarito said. 
“Our homemade cinnamon 
filling is topped with streusel 
and a glaze.
” Each layer is baked 
separately before adding another. 
A reading of ingredients on 
the label shows nothing artificial. 
“You wouldn’t find any corn 
syrup in our products. We make 
our own caramel,
” she said. 
The locally sourced ingredients 
include hormone-free butter and 
cage-free eggs.

Other Ethel’s varieties include 
a fresh-tasting Raspberry 
Crumble and Cinnamon 
Crumble, both pastry bars. 
Blondies are buttery chunk 
bars. Turtle Dandy — featuring 
chocolate, crushed pecans and 
caramel — sounds downright 
decadent. Only the crusty, very 
chocolaty Brownie, is almost 
flourless.
Prepared in small batches 
using mixers, dessert bars in 
a package of three (2.4 ounces 
each) retail for $9.99. A sin-
gle-serve bar costs $2.99.
Supermarkets determine 
the products’ expiration dates. 
Bommarito said protected bars 
can be left on the counter or 
stored in the pantry for up to 10 
days. Then they could be refrig-
erated or even frozen. But why 
wait so long? 

NOSH

EATS | DRINKS | SWEETS

Get tasty gluten-free treats from Ethel’s Baking Co. 

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Kosher Dessert Bars

DETAILS
Plum Market was the first local 
retailer to carry Ethel’s Baking 
Co.’s dessert bars. Ethel’s is 
also found in the bakery sec-
tion at Whole Foods Markets, 
Fresh Thyme Market in 
Farmington, Meijer Woodward 
Corner Market in Royal 
Oak, Meijer in Southfield, 
Nino Salvaggio International 
Marketplace in Bloomfield 
Township, Westborn Market in 
Berkley and Western Market 
in Ferndale. Ethel’s bars are 
available online at ethels.com 
and amazon.com.

Atlas Wholesale Food 
Company Matches $100K to 
Benefit Local Restaurants

