Welcome to The Old Tea Room

This old tea room website is my personal website sharing some of my experiences of running the old tea room. I have created this site as way to pass on some of the history of the tea room and the legacy that it has grown into.

Situated in on a quiet hillside overlooking the bay, the tea room was originally part of the house owned by my grandparents. When they passed, the house was left to my mother and father. Living in a small run-down apartment, they moved into the house and made it into their home. It was here that they started their family. Shortly after I was born, they ran into some hard-times. My father lost his job at the local garage when it burned to the ground and my mother lost her job at the clothing factory when it went out of business. My twin sisters were born when I was just 18 months old. With this growing family under their care and no sources of income, my parents had to be resourceful in finding a way to support the family.

One night while they were sipping on some freshly brewed tea a thought came to my mother. We love to sit and look over the bay with a nice cup of tea; maybe others would enjoy it, too. The seed was now planted and my mother and father embarked on a journey like no other.

They began by adding some simple tables and chairs that were stored in the garage. These tables and chairs had been hand crafted by my great grandfather. A little cleaning up was all they needed. Meanwhile, my mother began writing to her many relatives living in Southeast Asia asking them to send her some of their favourite teas. It wasn’t long before packages of tea, large and small began showing up in the mail. Some were exotic teas while others were everyday teas.

After sampling all of the teas, my father set out to find recipes for foods that would complement each type of tea. It was a delightful time to be a child living in a house that was somewhat of a test kitchen. Of course there were some failures that would end up in the trash. But those that were good were really good.

Thus the old tea room was born. It wasn’t long before people were arriving to sit and enjoy a cup of tea, a freshly baked pastry and a breath taking view. It was like we had company over every day. My mother and father would sit and visit with people, exchanging stories or sometimes just listening with interest. For some people it was like going to therapy. They would arrive sad and leave happy just having someone to talk with.