Donara Matsoyan, left, owner of Elite Bakery Cafe, stands with her daughter, Genie Pokitko.

CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - A trip down Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael can take you around the world with small businesses serving Chinese, Mexican and Afghan cuisine, for example. Close to the intersection with Walnut Avenue there is a bakery and café with Armenian roots that offers a variety of treats with a focus on American tastes.

The owner is Donara Matsoyan, who immigrated to the U.S. from Armenia in 1993, taking residence in a Carmichael apartment. She was born in Yerevan, the capital city, and she arrived here with her family that included her son, Tigran, who was just 30 days old.

Elite Bakery Cafe is located at 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd, Suite 107, in Carmichael.

The family car was stolen in Armenia and they took it as a sign to leave what was a chaotic nation after the Soviet Union, which Armenia was a part of, broke up.

She now lives in Rio Linda.

So why Carmichael for her business’s whereabouts?

“My daughters chose the location, the business; everything was their idea,” Matsoyan said.

She has five daughters, all of whom have worked at the bakery and café at some point; the business opened in 2017.

If you visit, you will most likely see Genie Pokitko, Matsoyan’s most actively-involved daughter.

Matsoyan said of the baking process, “Some of the recipes I had, like old-time recipes. Genie just perfected them, like making them and changing them. She’s a recipe changer all the time. She plays with the cookies.”

The oatmeal raisin cookies are shareable at $4 a piece.

A patriotic sign sits above a display case at Elite Bakery Cafe.

As for Matsoyan’s start in baking, it was a family affair.

“I had a big family. We were always baking. My mother-in-law was a baker.” Pokitko added. “So we have baking on both sides of the family.”

Matsoyan still has family in Armenia, which she visits every five years. She has two sisters and a brother there.

Of her customers, Matsoyan said, “They’re very happy with us: like a family. They know everything about my daughters.”

They have many customers who started coming in when the business was founded more than six years ago, Matsoyan said, and they keep coming and saying encouraging things.

Some customers ask for special orders.

The German chocolate cheesecake is $8.

“Some of the things I made for the first time. But I like challenges; I like when they come say, ‘Can you make this?’” Matsoyan said.

Elite Bakery Cafe makes culinary delights for Italian and Jewish holidays, for example.

When asked what the bakery and café’s busiest day is, Matsoyan mentioned Christmas and Thanksgiving. She said they baked “all the pies, like pumpkin pie and cherry pie” for Thanksgiving.

Even on normal days, baking and cutting start at 5 a.m. and the doors open at 8 a.m. They serve Temple Coffee to get customers started: the Dharma Espresso Blend for their espresso, which is somewhat dark-roasted, at just $3, and the Three Pillars Blend for their drip coffee, which is sold for $3.50 and $4, depending on the size.

You might detect a cherry tasting note in the espresso if you reflect on its flavor.

In addition to baked goods and drinks, Elite serves salads, breakfast dishes with eggs, sandwiches, savory and sweet crepes, and borscht soup with an Armenian spin: a type of beef stew for $12.50 a bowl.

And what of the Armenian-born son who was just a baby when he arrived in the U.S.?

Matsoyan said of Tigran, her now-adult son, “He is our biggest critic. He always comes."

Now Matsoyan has some 10 grandchildren. Say hi to Pokitko’s 11-year-old son, Roman, if you see him hanging out and lending a helping hand. They’ll consider you part of the family.

Elite Bakery Café is located at 5150 Fair Oaks Blvd. Suite 107. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.