Taylor’s Tea Room to close its doors
The Dundas café will be selling off dishes, tea cups and more on Sunday with proceeds donated to the Living Rock Youth Centre
“It’s a living part of our family that is going to be no more. I’m definitely grieving it and have been for some time.” BRAYDEN EHRLICH TAYLOR’S TEA ROOM
If you ask Brayden Ehrlich to remember his life before Taylor’s Tea Room, he admits there aren’t many memories that come to mind.
Ehrlich was just seven years old when his mother Lorraine opened the Dundas café as a tribute to her grandparents, Nana and Grandad Taylor, who owned a holiday boarding house in the seaside town of Lytham St. Annes, England.
On Sunday, after nearly three decades of operation, Ehrlich and his family will be closing the chapter on the tea room as they open their doors one last time.
“It’s super emotional,” said Ehrlich, now 36, in an interview. “It’s a living part of our family that is going to be no more. I’m definitely grieving it and have been for some time.”
Built on scones and memories
In an Instagram post announcing the tea room’s closure earlier this month, Ehrlich wrote that his mother was “smitten” any time she had a chance to visit the boarding house and that she looked up to her grandparents, who would often entertain and cook for their guests.
But growing up in Hamilton, she missed them.
As she got older, Ehrlich wrote that his mother would travel from tea room to tea room all while perfecting her own scone recipe, crafting seasonal jams and learning about loose-leaf teas — with the intent of opening her own spot in honour of her grandparents.
That dream came true when Taylor’s opened its doors on Dundas’ main drag in 1993.
Ehrlich took over the helm at the tea room a decade ago after working as a chef in Toronto, Whistler and Vancouver, allowing his mother to retire.
The local institution is best known for its scones, clotted cream, house-made jams, pies, quiches and its high tea spreads.
It also served up favourites such as roast beef dinners with Yorkshire pudding, turkey sandwiches and an array of homemade soups.
But their baked goods reigned supreme, said Ehrlich.
“People would always boast to us about our scones and say that they’ve had scones in England and they don’t compare to ours,” he said. “They were always asking for the recipe.”
Pandemic a ‘silver lining’
The decision to close the tea room is “bittersweet.” However, the pandemic isn’t directly to blame, said Ehrlich.
They felt the town’s support throughout COVID-19 and were also able to take advantage of government support for small businesses.
For Ehrlich, taking over the tea room was never going to be “a forever thing.”
“The pandemic became that silver lining that gave me the opportunity to take a rest and realize that now is a good time to move on,” he said.
Ehrlich is also changing career paths and has taken a job in emergency services.
“It was just time,” he added.
‘A family clubhouse’
Ehrlich said bidding farewell to the tea room is more than just closing the business.
If its walls could talk, they’d likely spill millions of memories — such as the time when Ehrlich got to meet actors Christopher Walken and Robin Williams as they filmed the 2006 movie “Man of the Year,” or when his family would eat cake in the café.
He also considers the tea room to be a “shrine” for their family and a memorial to generations past.
Family photos and heirlooms were proudly displayed around the space.
“It was a family clubhouse,” said Ehrlich. “And it’s been there through every chapter of life.”
It’s not lost on Ehrlich that what made it all possible was the love from the town and the family of small businesses in Dundas.
The tea room was also often painted and drawn by local artists — something they “cherished” as a family, he said. And the outpouring of support and well wishes from the community since they announced their closure has been “overwhelming.”
To say goodbye, the shop will open its doors one final time on Sunday — but pieces of the tea room will live on with those who loved it.
The café will be selling off thousands of dishes, plates and teacups, with proceeds from the sale going to the Living Rock Youth Centre on Wilson Street.
“It’s been an honour to serve Dundas for 28 years,” said Ehrlich.
“We’re super grateful.”