Rose Tree Cottage proprietors Edmund and Mary Fry (third and fourth from left in group photo) with their appropriately attired staff and pictured separately at right. [Courtesy images]
Whether served inside in the formal setting or outside in the beautiful tea garden (where they are planning to revive the custom of a ‘Tea Dance’ monthly, cooler weather permitting), it is all about “a good cup of tea” for the Fry’s! “When people come here, we don’t use tea bags in our service”, Fry said. “We offer a full English Afternoon Tea. Everything is prepared here, using our AGA (the Rolls Royce of stoves — which they also sell the 2, 3 or 5 oven models).
Fry, who owns the business with his wife, Mary, said the couple are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and have spent over 100 years between them in the tea trade! Both had careers in retail at Bullock’s Wilshire and Robinson’s prior to opening Rose Tree Cottage. Edmund having trained at Fortnum & Mason’s famous tea department (the London grocer that has been in business for over 300 years) and Mary as Advertising and Merchandise Manager at Port O’Call Pasadena gave them a solid background for owning and operating a British Import business and tearoom.
“I saw an opening for a place where anyone could get a decent cup of tea”, Fry said. “Even Bullock’s Wilshire, whose tearoom replicated Fortnum & Mason’s, served teabags in a little metal pot with ill-fitting lids”. “When the shop opened on California Blvd. near South Lake Avenue, it was a hit right away”, Fry said, partially because of serving a good loose leaf tea blend, rather than what he calls the “sweepings” or “dust” that fills teabags. To this day, they serve only their ‘English Village’ house blend of Indian, Ceylon and Kenya teas that took five years to create the right blend — available only at Rose Tree Cottage.
Edmund Fry is particular about terminology. He declines to call the service ‘High Tea’, a term he said originally referred to an evening meal for farmers and laborers served at a ‘high table’ with a generous pot of tea. “Unfortunately, Americans took hold of the name ‘high tea’, thinking it sounded like a special occasion”, he said.
“The experience begins with the reservation,” Fry added. At the Cottage, bookings are taken only by phone, no more than one week in advance, and confirmed with a personal phone call — a practice he said avoids no-shows and keeps the room fully booked with a waiting list. Guests are asked to observe a ‘smart attire’ dress code — no jeans or shorts for women or men and jacket and tie for gentlemen. For travelers who arrive unprepared, the shop will provide a tuxedo or sports jacket and tie from the Men’s Vintage Clothing area — and perhaps even a pocket handkerchief! Guests are asked to turn cell phones off at the door in order to relax and enjoy the experience of being together! Photography is not permitted inside — in part because some guests do not wish to appear in strangers’ pictures — though photos are happily taken for them outside among the roses.
“These standards”, Fry said, “are what has kept the business alife for decades, without a doubt.” Service in which ladies are seated first, the chairs are pulled out, napkins placed on laps and each cup of tea individually poured for them, rather than leaving a pot on the table to cool, is what the customers appreciate.
“Over these many years,” Fry said, “the customer base has grown through families and the surrounding community. Children who visited at 4 or 5 years old are now bringing their own children and grandchildren.”
They set a minimum age of 4 years old for children at tea, which is attributed strictly to safety precautions. Guests have ranged across “every walk of life”, he said, including members of royalty; he cited a memorable visit by the late King Kigali of Rwanda. The shop’s ties to British culture also drew a promotional role tied to the “Downton Abbey” film finale, Fry said. “For that event, we held a candlelight tea with ladies attending in tea gowns and gentlemen in tuxedos.
The adjoining shop is as central to the business as the tea service, according to Fry. Their family-recipe currant scones are baked in the AGA and shipped as far away as Hawaii, Florida and even Hong Kong, he said, adding that holiday demand forces the shop to stop taking orders and rationing customers. He said the scones remain moist, even after freezing for a few months, recounting a Chicago Judge who found a batch in her freezer after a year, served them to a party of judges and barristers who wanted to know the source.
The shop also features their own private label shortbread, English chocolate covered toffee, oatcakes, jams, marmalades and lemon curd made from home-grown lemons. Among imported foods, the cottage carries items you would find at Fortnum’s — from tea to cheese, Cadbury’s chocolates, McVitie’s biscuits and everything you would need for a ‘Full English’ breakfast (bacon, sausages, beans) or a true High Tea (sausage rolls, meat pies, etc.) — and, the fine china to serve it on, from Wedgwood, Spode, Royal Doulton, Minton, etc.
The Cottage also carries Barbour clothing, a line dating back to 1894 that Fry noted is worn by the royal family. He said the shop has done the largest Barbour business on the West Coast, selling the outerwear even through a recent stretch of hot weather, recalling two men from Chicago who spent close to $2,000 on jackets they couldn’t find at home.
Asked about the challenges of importing British food, tea and clothing, Fry answered simply: “None.”
“Rising costs for food labor, insurance and utilities are real”, Fry acknowledged, “but, steady demand offsets them. In this paper plate and plastic cup world, customers still drive from Palm Springs, Las Vegas and Northern California for quality in goods and service that they cannot find anywhere else.”
Fry said the couple see the cottage as an historic Pasadena community fixture and have focused on continuing that role rather than on any dramatic change for the next chapter. Edmund and Mary also run a non-profit, Bloom Where Planted, a 501(c)(3) U.S. Public Charity, which supports a primary school in Kenya that has grown from twelve children to 900. They also sponsor students on through secondary school and college or trade schools. He said the charity ships thousands of donated items each year — everything from pencils & books to used laptops, bicycles and sewing machines — and, that every dollar donated goes to the school and the families of it’s students. Donations can be made at bloomwhereplanted.org, he said. It is this passion for helping the children that drives them onward! As Edmund says, “Rose Tree is the engine that makes it all possible, so please come join us for tea and help us help them.”
Rose Tree Cottage is located at 801 S. Pasadena Avenue, and may be reached at 626-793-3337.
