elm street bakery and cafe

i've been enjoying the wonderful things being done at the elm street bakery for quite a while and i've been sharing them with you as well. months ago, i explained my family's love affair with the bakery and its great breads, pastries and baked goods. then, when they started a dinner service not long ago, my wife and i had to check it out in its first week and we were very impressed.

it's not surprising that elm street bakery has become a go-to for us any time of the day. this past weekend, my wife and i had a chance to enjoy a great meal on a date night there.

the shrimp and grits were a work of art. the head-on shrimp were plated atop tender, rich grits and drizzled with a flavorful spicy shrimp broth. they were garnished with crispy bacon and chorizo and served with roasted ramps.

a few weekends ago, we braved the elements and trekked an hour southwest to east aurora, ny for a much anticipated date night at elm street bakery; long have we heard of the pastries, the pizza, and the bread. i will say this – popular opinion ruined us for the evening. it’s so tricky when your expectations have been set so high, it almost seems unfair to hold a spot to that standard. even so, elm street bakery is absolutely worth the trip.

as a frequent visitor of the elm st. bakery, i can attest to their consistently amazing food. there aren't many (if any) places you can get locally sourced, seasonally inspired, great tasting cuisine that is way better for you than any other restaurant you'd get in the area.

a few things my husband and i love:

-the food: the food here is hands down some of our favorite. they put a lot of time into creating their menu, which changes weekly (by a few items) and seasonally, according to what veggies are available. you can tell that their hearts are in their cooking and presentation.

-the staff: the staff here are very hard workers and want their customers to have a great time. even on their busiest of nights i've yet to hear any employee complain, and they always go above and beyond. they know they're helping serve up quality food and really enjoy doing so.

-the atmosphere: the elm st. bakery is housed in an awesome location in cute town east aurora, ny. you can eat outdoors on their patio area, inside along the windows at nice tables to watch the east aurora'ns walk by, upstairs to have an overhead view of the bustling restaurant, or downstairs in front of their talented chefs. this also has an awesome view of their 800*f + wood stove oven that they use not only for pizza's but many of their main dishes.

-the baked goods and desserts: i really cannot say enough.. where else can you find such amazing gluten free options? their baked goods, thanks to luci and friends at the bakery, are out of this world... we're talking amazing breads, cakes, cupcupcakes, chocolate ganaches.. their coconut macroons are the best. the cowgirl cookies are my fav.. i pretend they're healthy granola bars (and they probably are better for you than most granola bars out there). we had the ladies at elm st. bring some amazing desserts to our wedding last year and our guests loved them so much they're still talking about how much they enjoyed them (yes, they cater weddings and parties too!).

-also: i didn't even get into their amazing breakfasts (uhm great kimchi, local eggs, breakfast sandwiches, lox/bialy yes please!), their coolers of great cheeses and drinks (kombucha's, beers, etc.), housemade granola to go, and a really nice selection of fermented foods!

-to the review saying they don't have dairy/meat free options: yes they have plenty of meat free options and always have, and they are more than happy to accommodate all dairy free requests.

i'm not a writer, i don't work for them, and i could (obviously) keep going on and on.. but i won't. just go eat there. :)

if you want wonderful food at a place that makes you feel more positive and inspired after visiting, i highly recommend the elm st. bakery.
enjoy.

as many of you know, i’ve been a big fan and proponent of elm street bakery for several years now. i’ve been particularly impressed with the dinner service chef brad rowell and his team have been putting out night after night for the last year and a half. so when we learned that brad would be leaving the bakery at the end of the year, we made sure to get in there at least one last time to enjoy his food at elm street. as with our last stop, the food and service was excellent.

the roasted peppers were exceptional. local heirloom peppers were roasted perfectly with the right amount of caramelization and served with burrata and tomato jam. the peppers were garnished with parmesan breadcrumbs that were nicely browned. the peppers were sweet and went well with the rich, creamy cheese. the tomato jam was both sweet and acidic, but not overly so. the jam balanced the seasoning of the peppers and the breadcrumbs offered a nice textual contrast.

in addition to the coffee and baked goods we always order, we selected two dishes that rj was making in the wood fired oven. my wife wanted the custardy french toast with raspberry preserves and local maple syrup ($8.50). i chose the sausage breakfast sandwich ($12.50).

not worth it! got soup and salad lunch combo for take out and the soup wasn't even filled a quarter of the way in the container. the "side" salad is just that... a very small side. i am a small female and you'd think for $11 you would at least be somewhat full after your meal. as for the meal itself, it wasn't anything special. you're better off just going somewhere else.

not sure. my friend and i went there to have lunch and we heard nothing but rave reviews. first we weren't expecting an order at the counter place. when we asked the cashier in the cafe part how it works, she spoke to us as if we were either stupid or children. that being said, i ordered soup and sandwich and my friend ordered a pizza. oh yes, it's the lenten season an there was no fish on the lunch menu, there were vegetarian choices. not the same as fish. the cashier neglected to tell us our lunches would not be coming out together. mine came first and there was such a long time before the pizza came out my lunch was cold. not warm but cold!! when i went up to get a second cup of coffee and the girl at the bakery asked how our good was i told her. she did apologize and offered me a free bakery piece. my thought was why this hasn't happened to other customers before. my friend said the pizza was good my soup and sandwich would probably be good if it was at least warm. enough said.

for our brunch, my wife and i decided that we'd order two of the 3 dishes and split them. we opted for the kimchi fried rice ($10.50) and the cubano breakfast ($12.50).

i think everyone knows how much we love elm street bakery. they were one of our top five meals of 2014. a couple weeks ago we visited elm street with some friends to check out their #secretbrunch menu. the menu isn’t very large, on our visit they had three options available, but the items coming out of the brick oven are delicious. we tried the the kimchi fried rice with pork belly, the dutch baby and duck scrapple. the pork belly with fried rice was my personal favorite, the belly and rice were nice and crunchy from the oven. the scrapple was the table favorite, the meat was moist and tender and topped with a fresh farm egg. if you really needed another reason to drive to east aurora and visit elm street bakery, this would be it.

i love when my favorite restaurants change their menus frequently. sure, having your favorite dishes on the menu year after year can be comforting, but without some turnover, even your favorite spots can become boring. i really love places that change their menus a lot (much more than just seasonally) and continue to bring the same quality with each and every menu and meal. one of these places, as you've heard me mention on more than one occasion (including yesterday), is elm street bakery. over the weekend, my wife and i stopped by the bakery and had another great supper.

i've been seeing the pictures and speaking with people about the "secret brunch" that elm street bakery has been running on sundays for the past few weeks. it's not a well kept secret by design and it's building a nice little buzz for the new features the bakery is offering on sunday mornings. after stopping in for dinner on saturday and speaking with chefs brad rowell and rj marvin, we knew we had to bring the whole family to check it out. everyone of us, from my wife & i, all the way to our two-year-old twins, loved the great dishes that are available only during the "secret brunch".

awesome place and the food is the best. have only been there once, keep trying to back but they are closed. are they opening up again?

our favorite spot.. my wife and i moved here recently from maryland. elm street was recommended for a quick lunch. it was love at first bite. we have been back many times for lunch, dinner on the patio, and many selections of baked goods. when we have visitors this is our go-to spot for excellent quality gourmet selections. we especially appreciate the support of local sustainable farms and sources for meat and veggies etc. its a great vibe and highly recommended in my book. keep up the good work guys!