Amber Wardia built her business, Enchanted Oven, the same way she bakes her sweets and healthier fare: from scratch.

“I came from nothing financially, like, we were poor,” says the single mother of three. “And I’m doing it.” She held her youngest babe in her arms as she convinced the owner of a Birmingham catering kitchen to rent her space for her first baking business in 2008. “And I was on the [Channel 7] news and things were going great. And then we had the recession!”

Amber Wardia outgrew her space in Saline last year but continued filling custom orders from the basement of a nearby church while readying her new place at the roundabout corner of North Territorial and Pontiac Tr. | Photo: J. Adrian Wylie

After her divorce she worked in Florida for a time. Then she settled in Saline, where she opened a small downtown shop offering custom-decorated cakes, cupcakes, cheesecake, pies, and cookies.

Then the pandemic struck. “Not only did I not have money coming in, I was refunding people [who’d placed orders for canceled events]. And I managed to hang on, which is a miracle,” she reflects, crediting a devoted team of young workers who helped her branch into bread, then biscuits, then soups and sandwiches. Through Saline Area Social Services’ food pantry and, later, Food Gatherers, they fed untold hundreds of families in need.

Wardia outgrew the space last year but continued filling custom orders from the basement of a nearby church while readying Enchanted Oven’s new bakery and vegetarian café at the roundabout corner of North Territorial and Pontiac Tr. “A lot of people eat healthy so that you can have a treat once in a while, and so our food menu is on the healthier side,” she explains. A house-made sweet potato biscuit sandwich with egg, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, dulse seaweed, and wilted greens makes for a convenient breakfast on the go, while lunch options include a veggie shawarma of potato hash, roasted cauliflower and chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion in a grilled pita with pink pickles and yogurt sauce.

Curbside service is available for advance orders, while the cozy dine-in area seats ten.

Wardia had already signed her lease when Enchanted Oven (its name inspired by Hansel and Gretel during her “goth phase”) won a Comcast RISE award, providing business consultation, TV commercial production and placement, technology equipment and service, and a $5,000 grant.

“This building needed quite a bit of work, and so that became daunting at one point,” she admits. “Then the Comcast award came and I said, ‘Okay, I can do this.’ It was a sign that it’s going to be okay.”

Enchanted Oven, 5241 North Territorial. (734) 355–5526. Mon.–Fri. 6 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Closed Sun. enchantedoven.com