48 | SEPTEMBER 8 • 2022 

NOSH
DINING AROUND THE D

I

n the “fried chicken wars” 
(which Hour Detroit maga-
zine says is a thing), the only 
local kosher entrant I know 
about is the crispy fried chicken 
served at Ess In co. in Oak Park. 
(“Ess” means “eat” in Yiddish.) 
After operating for weeks as a 
word-of-mouth business, Chef 
Cari Herskovitz Rosenbloom’s 
sit-down restaurant is now 
ready for prime time.
Chef Cari, in partnership 
with her husband, Yisroel 
“Israel” Rosenbloom, is known 
in the Jewish community as a 
caterer, operator of The Spot 
and Fish Bowl food trucks and 
owner of the 4-year-old Wok 
In Cari Out, a Chinese carry-
out. Its location on 10 Mile in 
Southfield is less than a mile 
from Ess In, which replaced a 
deli on the main floor of Crown 
Pointe Office Building. 
The chef’s first restaurant 
with a dining room features 

incredible fried chicken, brined 
for a minimum 24 hours before 
frying. Another specialty is 
English-style fish and chips. By 
customer request, the menu 
also includes falafel and other 
staples of traditional Israeli 
cuisine.
“I’m thankful that Detroit 
has supported me,
” said Chef 
Cari, a graduate of National 
Gourmet Institute in New York 
City. Growing up locally, she 
appreciated eating wholesome, 
homemade meals. “My two 
Hungarian bubbies always 
determined I’
d be a cook,
” 
she said. Cooking profes-
sionally could extend to the 
Rosenbloom daughters, ages 
4 and 6. Mom said they love 
making challah with her in the 
family kitchen. 
With Ess In, Chef Cari and 
Israel have created a cute, 
homey restaurant. On two walls 
enclosing the kitchen, Josh 

Young painted a farmhouse 
mural, complete with weathered 
red shingles, curtained windows 
and a white fence. Panels of pal-
let wood cover other walls. 
The front counter, topped 
with bottles of hometown Faygo 
pop, has crisscross barnwood 
“doors” below. There is a wall 
menu for ordering, just as at 
Chef Cari’s Chinese place, 
but Ess In offers its guests the 
choice of dining in, as well as 
carryout or curbside pickup. 
Thirty guests can sit at high 
and low tables, or the bar made 
from a 10-foot piece of live 

wood. 
 A fulltime mashiach from 
the Council of Orthodox Rabbis 
provides kashrut supervision 
at Ess In. “We do quality food 
that happens to be kosher,
” 
Chef Cari said. For her, only 
fresh ingredients will do — 
from farm to table. The dining 
concept is “fast casual, not 
fast food.
” Meals are brought 

PHOTOS BY ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER

Chef Cari opens new kosher 
sit-down restaurant in Oak Park.
Ess In co.

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Ess In co. 
25900 Greenfield, 
Oak Park 
(248) 850-8177 
essincompany.com 
$$$ out of $$$$$

Cobb 
salad

Chef Cari Herskovitz 
Rosenbloom at the counter of 
the new restaurant she opened 
with her husband, Israel. 

Two pieces 
of crispy 
fried chicken

