by Jennifer Alexander Ruple
Rodriguez, Emma Mikols, Joseph Bishop, and Maricella Wrozek roll milk buns dough that will proof for about two hours prior to baking.
The owners of Element 112, Chris Nixon, his mother Michele Nixon, and Greg Geswein, are embarking on a new culinary adventure as they expand their current business into a 5,000-square-foot wholesale and retail bakery outlet at a new location. The expansion will increase the operation’s employees from 20 to about 50.
On Dec. 4, Sylvania City Council unanimously agreed to sell the city-owned 2.75-acre parcel of land at 4827 N. Holland Sylvania Rd. at Harroun Road for $175,000 to Chris Nixon. “If everything goes as planned, construction could begin as early as February,” said Allison Carpenter, director of business operations at Element.
The transaction is dependent on a favorable review by the Municipal Planning Commission. Approval for a zoning change along with the procurement of a special use permit will also be required to enable the construction of a wholesale bakery on the property.
Element 112, located at 5735 N. Main St., opened in October 2012 as a full-service restaurant specializing in French bistro fare. “We restructured in 2022 after COVID and began offering our food in a more casual setting. We also started dabbling in baking, mainly croissants. It resonated well with customers,” said Carpenter. “We thought, ‘Let’s buy a bakery case and offer our pastries up front.’”
More changes came about when Element began working with distributor Carmela Foods in Detroit. “Our croissants are now offered locally at Sautter’s, Harvest in Holland, Walt Churchill’s, and Brew Coffee Bar on Secor Road,” said Carpenter. Larger accounts include Delta Sky Club, the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, and the Motor City Casino and Hotel. “We also just signed on with Frosty Acres Brands based in Georgia. Through Frosty Acres, we began working with Superior Foods in Grand Rapids, Mich.,” she added.
On Aug. 5, 2023, the restaurant closed and was converted to a bakery and a small café operating under the name Madeline’s Patisserie. The café offers sandwiches, soups, and salads for lunch plus baked goods including several flavors of croissants, cookies and sourdough bread. The plan is to keep Madeline’s open in its current location through this summer; however, the decision to offer a café at the Holland-Sylvania site is still under consideration.