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Cornwall Standard
Freeholder September 1994
by Roxanne Ouellette
Calling all tea drinkers: Have your pinkies poised
and ready. There's a new hang-out in town.
The Village Antiques and Tea Room is described by co-owner
Marcel Allard as "a pot-pourri of experience and what we love."
The ultra-quaint Williamsburg business was created partly
because Allard and partner Victor Dupuis wanted to escape the rat race of the
city, and partly because they wanted a business where they could show off their
talents.
The partners have worked for years in exclusive French
restaurants in the Gatineau-area and owned an antique shop in Ottawa.
Walking into the 16-seat (or less depending if they sold a
table or not, says Dupuis, because everything there has a price tag) tea room is
a treat to the senses.
The Victorian atmosphere is comforting, especially when the
fireplace is roaring - almost like stepping into grandma's house.
The light aroma of tea is in the air. (Amazingly, they
have 60 different kinds of tea to choose from).
The menu offers such big city delicacies as Steak &
Kidney pie, Braised Chicken Breast, Crepe Cannelloni and one of the best-tasting
carrot cakes in SD & G.
"What's funny about this tea room is when people visit
they usually come back the very same week with a friend or relative, almost like
they 'discovered' something," says Dupuis, who opened in October
1992. (The antique shop originally opened in 1989, but the men closed up
shop due to lack of customers. They re-opened and added the tea room and
gift shop when people started to knock on their door asking where the antique
shop was).
Why Williamsburg? "Our friends still ask us where
in the world is Williamsburg," laughs Dupuis who is from Georgian Bay.
"We chose the area because we got the building at a
great price. Besides, it's a high traffic area."
They've had to rely on traffic because their phone number
isn't listed anywhere. "It's a good thing this is a friendly town
because often people call the Canadian Tire or other businesses looking for our
phone number," says Dupuis, adding that the men did all the extensive
renovations themselves. "You couldn't hire anyone to do all the work
we did," says Allard looking around the colorful room as Bach's music
lingers in the air.
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