As an accounting software company was telling Australia Ballina was the country’s worst place to start a business, Paige Brierley was unlocking the doors to hers.

The timing couldn’t have been more ironic.

On the very day a national survey branded Ballina the nation’s toughest place for start-ups, Ms Brierley quietly opened Lambrook Pantry on River Street, transforming the former Cove Restaurant site into what she hopes will become Ballina’s home of fine tea, homemade treats and relaxed high teas.

There was no grand opening. No advertising campaign. Just a soft launch to make sure everything was running smoothly before Saturday’s official opening.

Yet by lunchtime, the café was already buzzing.

Curious locals wandered in after spotting the new fit-out. Others had been walking past for weeks, asking when the doors would finally open.

“The response has been amazing,” Ms Brierley said.

“We’ve been here for the last month putting this together and everyone walking past has been saying, ‘When are you opening? We can’t wait.'”

Among the first customers through the door were Ballina locals Lorraine Cook and Beau Butcher, who had dropped in for a cuppa after visiting a friend in hospital.

“Lovely,” Ms Cook said as she admired the new tea house.

“I just said to my friend, ‘Let’s go and have a cuppa.’

“I think it’ll be popular.”

Before leaving, the pair were already talking about returning with family and friends for one of Lambrook Pantry’s signature high teas, saying Ballina had been missing somewhere like it.

A dream years in the making

For Ms Brierley, opening a tea house in Ballina wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.

It was the culmination of a dream that began during the COVID pandemic, when she launched Lambrook Pantry from a small space above her father’s joinery business in Mullumbimby.

While much of the country was navigating lockdowns, she was developing her own range of handcrafted teas, sauces, relishes and preserves, supplying retailers as a wholesaler while quietly nurturing a much bigger ambition – creating a place where customers could experience her products in the way she had always imagined.

“I always wanted to create something using our products and showcasing them,” she said.

“We’ll be back!” – happy customers Lorraine Cook and Beau Butcher enjoying a Lambrook high tea.

“People would always say it would be nice to come and actually sit and have some of your tea and then take some home.”

From the beginning, Ballina was where she hoped that dream would become reality.

Although she considered locations across the Northern Rivers, she had long had her eye on the former restaurant site adjacent to the Ballina RSL.

“I’ve always parked in front of this shop and had been checking it out,” she said.

“It was just the right time.”

The result is a cosy tea house showcasing Australian-grown teas, homemade pastries, fresh lunches and traditional high teas.

Tea, naturally, is the star of the show.

Rather than arriving in a plain mug with a teabag on the side, every pot is served in delicate vintage china. Over several years, Ms Brierley has quietly collected dozens of dainty patterned teacups and teapots in anticipation of finally opening her own tea house, giving every cup of tea a sense of occasion.

Almost everything is made from scratch in-house.

Many of the recipes have been inspired by her Nonna’s cookbook and passed down through generations of her family.

Her Nonna taught her the savoury side of cooking while her aunt introduced her to traditional biscuits and baking, influences that still shape the menu today.

Everything from the pastry to the quiches, sausage rolls and cakes is made fresh each day, while the teas are sourced from Australian growers in the Daintree and Victoria before being blended with dehydrated Australian fruit.

The tea house also aims to become Ballina’s destination for high teas.

“I think everyone loves a high tea, and now we don’t have to drive to the Gold Coast anymore,” she said.

‘Really?’

When Ballina News Daily told Ms Brierley about the survey naming Ballina the worst place in Australia to start a business, her response was immediate.

“Really?” she laughed.

Asked whether the survey reflected her experience, she didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, a little bit,” she laughed, before adding that the steady stream of customers and warm reception from locals suggested otherwise.

“We’ve been here for the last month putting this together and everyone walking past has said, ‘When are you opening?’

“The response has been amazing.”

The business hasn’t even officially opened yet.

Saturday marks the grand opening, but Thursday’s quiet launch had already exceeded expectations.

Paige with just some of the Lambrook team (L to R): Agathe Drieu La Rochelle, Toteo Acacou , Rebecca Clark and Natasha Stam

Ms Brierley is also committed to employing local people wherever possible.

“Our chef has been here for 30 years. Our pastry chef, our baristas are locals,” she said.

“I want to employ locals… and if one of our young staff decides she wants to do a pastry apprenticeship, we’ll put her through.”

The business also supports Australian growers, while 20 cents from every tea and coffee sold is donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

After surviving the challenge of launching a wholesale food business during COVID, opening her own tea house had always been the goal.

Now, with a home under construction at Alstonville and a growing team behind her, she’s confident she has found the perfect place to invest in that future.

Related Story: Ballina the worst place to do business? You must be kidding!