DECEMBER 14 • 2023 | 39
J
N

NOSH
DINING AROUND THE D

A

fter the doors
closed July 2 at Star
Bakery on Coolidge
Highway in Oak Park,
customers thought they’d
had their last opportunity
to taste Star’s
popular challah,
seven-layer
cake and other
scrumptious
baked goods.
The public,
including me,
didn’t know
the whole story
until now: that the venerable
bakery, founded in Detroit in
1915, kept on going!
Owners Dan Buckfire and
David Schechter continued to
employ the same crew to bake
bread starting at 4 p.m. under
the direction of Jamal Zahra,
the resident distributor.
As background, attorney
Buckfire and businessman
Schechter, both retirees,
purchased Star Bakery in

July 2021 and also West
Bloomfield-based Diamond
Bakery later in November.
Stacy Fox is a third partner.
Buckfire, Star’s managing
partner, admitted to being
pleasantly surprised at how
“the community turned
out in force to support us”
when they heard of the
bakery’s imminent closing
last summer. He said he and
Schechter thought things
over — “can we have a viable
business?” — and decided,
“We’re giving it a shot. We’re
going to try again.”
It took them a little over
four months to get the bakery
reopened for retail business
on Nov. 16, selling only bread
and bagels at first.
Zahra’s first association
with Star Bakery was in
1986. “I made deliveries
for the Moskowitzes,” he
said, referring to previous
owner Ben Moskowitz and
later, his daughter, Esther

Moskowitz. As the bakery’s
bread distributor, Zahra
places Star products at
Diamond Bakery and Jewish
deli-style restaurants. Rye
bread is always the biggest
seller because of its use for
sandwiches. Zahra is also
responsible for managing the
production of Star’s baked
goods.
If there’s a particular kind
of bread that a customer
wants, “it can be ordered
ahead of time,” Buckfire
said. “We can set aside these
special orders for customers
so that they will not come
away from the store without
getting exactly what they like.”
Recently, a Jewish woman
I know from Huntington
Woods told the day’s cashier
most happily that this was
her first return visit to the
reopened Star Bakery. The
cashier enticed her with a
sample of Date Fingers, a
flavorful new cookie recipe

for Star Bakery that came
from Zahra’s wife, Sue.
The slightly yellow-tinged
cookies include cardamom,
ginger and, of course, dates.
Their deliciousness inspired
the customer to buy a
quantity for home in both
the plain and powdered sugar
varieties.
Other refrigerated display
cases at Star contained
traditional favorites found in
Ashkenazi Jewish bakeries. I
noticed an array that included
black-and-white, sprinkle
and Stacy’s chocolate chip
cookies, apple Danishes,
babkas, rugelach, kichel,
hamantaschen, cinnamon and
chocolate horn pastries and
various coffee cakes. Trays of
baked goods may be ordered,
including online.
With delights such as
these, the smiles are back at
Star Bakery, where Buckfire
said, “Our goal is to serve the
community.”

Star Bakery Reopens

Esther
Allweiss
Ingber
Contributing
Writer

Star Bakery

26031 Coolidge Highway
Oak Park, MI 48237
Phone: (248) 541-9450
Social media:
thestarbakery.com
and a Facebook page
Bakery hours: 8 a.m.-3
p.m. Tuesday-Sunday

The Star
Bakery

EMILY ELCONEN