High Tea

High Tea

Shawn was new to the coast and still getting used to the size and pace of California. He was using every free hour he could find to explore his new home. One of his lunch hour treks had led him to Bluff Road, a steep, winding, picturesque drive lined with palm trees on both sides. It was a beautiful drive but not as beautiful as the roads and streets at the bottom of the hill, the ones that meander along the beaches and through the resorts. The view from Bluff Road was nice but it wasn’t enough of a reason for someone to wander away from the resorts below it.

Nothing in his Canadian roots had pointed him toward Southern California. He was a happy Canuck and figured he’d spend his whole life there. Then, while he was doing graduate work in England, that all changed. He met Mia, a fellow student and a San Diego native with a beautiful smile and an energy that was hard to keep up with. They’d met in a small tearoom and fell in love over countless cups of tea and warm scones. When graduation came there were long conversations about what came next. A decision was made. The man from Snowy Canada would move west to be with the woman from sunny California.

Early on, Shawn had become fascinated with his new home. His discovery of Bluff Road seemed to strike a chord with him. Over the course of a week, he had taken time away from his office and traveled every foot of that road, checking the ocean views and how the traffic from the resorts came up the hill. For three days he’d sat in his car in the parking lot of a small café and counted the number of cars that drove by. He saw that the parking lot of The Summit Inn, the small hotel next door was rarely more than half full. It seemed to him there wasn’t much of a reason for people to climb that hill. At least for now. Even though he was new to the state he’d been encouraged about some recent changes to State laws, changes that fit perfectly with his idea. It was time to bring Mia into the conversation.

It was a Saturday morning and he’d talked her into driving with him to the small café. An idea had been percolating in his head and it had been hard to not share it with her. She asked him a lot of questions, but he asked her to be patient just awhile longer. It was a fairly easy drive from their apartment and when they reached the bottom of the hill and the beginning of Bluff Road, he said, “Okay, imagine what it would take for you to want to drive up this hill on a regular basis.”

“And when we get to the top will you tell me what this is all about?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yep, every little detail.”

They drove slowly, enjoying the view, and when they reached the crest of the hill they pulled into the parking lot of the small café. Shawn pointed out the Business for Sale sign that had been hung over the entrance door. Mia turned toward him, “So…what? You want to buy this old place?”

“Well, I want to buy the building, not the business.”

“And do what with it?”

“Okay, just bear with me a minute. I want to buy this place and convert it to a tea room.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “A tea room, like the one we went to in London? A tea room. Not a bar, a tea room? Not margaritas…tea?”

“Well, there would be a lot more to it than just tea. I’m thinking something very different and very unique.”

“What’s unique about a tearoom? I’ll bet there are a bunch of them around town.”

“I’ve been looking online and every tearoom I found was pretty basic. Not like what we saw in England but not exactly what I have in mind here.. I don’t want to compete with other tearooms. I want to reinvent them.”

“And how will you do that?”

He opened the door of the console between them and pulled out a small packet of papers neatly paperclipped together. “Here’s my idea. I named it The Hilltop Café.”

Mia took the packet from him and leafed through the sheets. The first one was Shawn’s idea for a logo, the words The Hilltop Café in a curving arch surrounded by leaves and vines. Inside a circle under the arch, in large block letters was THC. She held it up and stared at it. Finally, she asked, “Does that mean what I think it does?”

“Yeah, it’s THC, tetrahydrocannabinol. Cannabis. My idea is to open a tearoom that offers conventional tea if you want it or infused tea if you want a little extra kick. We’d do the same thing with other drinks and even a few simple food offerings.”

Mia was silent for an uncomfortably long time and Shawn wondered if he’d just told her about the dumbest idea of all time. He watched her face and, slowly, a smile started to appear. She was silent for another few seconds the said, “Honey, I have to admit I like this. It’s a little out on the edge but I like it.”

Shawn couldn’t hide his relief. “Wow, that’s great. I was afraid you’d think I was some kind of over-the-hill hippie.”

“No not at all. It’s an interesting idea but do you really think there’s a market for it? I mean, could you actually make money doing it?”

“I was the business major and you were marketing, but I think we’re seeing it through the same eyes. Look through the other pages. I found a lot of details about marijuana consumption, both smoking and edibles. When you read through those pages you’ll see how cannabis enhances flavors and increases people’s enjoyment of eating. The new State laws really loosen up the ways to get it and use it. Dispensary sales are huge. I think the demand is there and we can supply it.”

She was nodding but got silent again. He asked, “So, is it a go?”

“Honey, I have to believe that a venture like this could be really expensive. We’re saving for a house and this would be a huge roadblock for that.”

“Well, I’ve given that a lot of thought. We talked about my inheritance from my uncle as being a retirement fund but I’m thinking some of it could go toward buying this place. It wouldn’t affect our house shopping at all.”

After a long pause she sighed, “How about we grab lunch and a glass of wine and talk some more?”

“Great idea. This cafe has wine and we’ll just take a chance on the food.”

“Okay. I like your idea, but I’m going to hold off on getting too excited for now.”

Over the next two weeks Shawn met with the café owner and the realtor. He found out what he needed to make an offer but there was one more conversation he wanted to have.

On another lunch hour trip he visited the Summit Inn. As he walked toward the registration desk and looked around the lobby, a young woman approached him and said, “Good morning, welcome to The Summit Inn. How can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m Shawn McVeigh. Is the manager available?”

“Sure, he’s in his office. Can I tell him what you want to see him about?”

“Well, just tell him I might be your new neighbor.”

While he waited, Shawn looked around at the lobby and down a corridor. He could tell the place had seen better days. Things looked worn and outdated, clean but not much more than that. A few minutes later a slender, well dressed man walked up to the counter. “Hi, I’m John Baird, You’re Shawn and I was told you might be our new neighbor?”

Shawn extended his hand and said, “Nice to meet you, John, and yes, I’m considering buying the café. I thought you might be able to shed a little light on the business climate in this part of town.”

Baird paused before he said, “Well, I guess the best way to put it is that it ain’t what it used to be.”

“Interesting. I talked to the realtor who has the café listing and he made it sound like things are busy and booming on the hill. It sounds like you disagree.”

“That’s the way it used to be but over time the big resorts down below grabbed up everything, the guests, the diners and a lot of the sightseers. We have enough traffic to keep our doors open but not much more. We’re okay…for now.”

“That’s not very encouraging. Do you have a lounge or a dining room here?”

“Nope, we send our guests over to the café.”

“Do you ever get feedback from them? Do they like the food…the place?”

“Some do and they say it’s adequate but nothing special, nothing different. If you don’t mind a little advice I think you better come up with a gimmick of some kind, something that makes people talk about you. Something that’ll make them come through the door.”

“Well, I have a few ideas but it’s still a work in progress. I’ll let you know more, if and when I decide to buy the place.”

The next few days were hectic. Both Shawn and Mia juggled their day jobs while doing research on the local dining scene. They found a few cannabis-based restaurants but they were miles away from the resorts and Bluff Road. The resorts offered everything from fine dining to poolside bars but nothing like what Shawn had in mind. They talked to food and restaurant supply companies to get an idea of the costs to open the place and run it. They dug deeply into the California marijuana laws and didn’t find anything that would be a problem. When they found out that the café owners hadn’t received any offers on the building it looked like things were falling into place.

After a long meeting with their lawyer about the inheritance and many more conversations about “what ifs” they made a formal offer on the café. It was three days of quiet nervousness before they got an answer. The offer was accepted. The Hilltop Café, THC, was born.

Both Shawn and Mia knew the risks they were facing and that they’d have to keep their day jobs. They both had built strong local networks of business contacts that they could tap into for advice in helping them get things off the ground. Mia’s contractor brother took on the role of Project Manager. The site work was his responsibility. Thanks to a referral from a colleague who happened to love smoking pot and had contacts in the restaurant community, Shawn found the perfect man, Alvin, to run the unusual new café. Alvin knew a baker to make the cannabis infused scones and other foods. He also trained the kitchen staff in the proper and legal methods of infusing the rest of the menu. Three long, stressful but exciting months later, The Hilltop Café opened its doors.

Like any new business it took awhile for THC to build an audience. Shawn had come up with an idea to make the café stand out to the passing traffic. He’d attached a rooftop flagpole and hung his own unique flag, the traditional Canadian red maple leaf but with a little alteration. The maple leaf was tweaked to look like a large red marijuana leaf. Some online marketing and some full-color flyers for handouts at the resorts started a trickle and then a line of cars heading up the hill on Bluff Road. There was the expected turnout from the surfer and biker crowds but there was also a surprising number of business people and couples. Mia had named the Happy Hour offerings “High Tea”, and the double meaning brought large crowds. But it also brought trouble, unexpected trouble.

A few weeks after the opening John Baird walked into the café demanding to talk to Shawn. The manager gave him Shawn’s cellphone number and the arguing started. “Hello, John, Alvin told me you wanted to talk.”

“Yes, I do. I want to tell you that I’m not happy with the kind of crowd your little café is attracting.”

“You’re kidding, right? We’ve brought in all kinds of people from the locals to the tourists. What’s your problem?”

“My problem is that some of your customers, the ones who, let’s just say aren’t the kind of people I’m used to having in my hotel are coming in asking for rooms.”

“Yeah, I’ve looked over a few times and noticed your parking lot was full. Good for you.”

“No, it isn’t good for me. I knew as soon as I saw that God-awful flag of yours I knew that there’d be trouble.”

“And an inn full of paying customers is trouble? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes a lot of sense. I have tourists and business people that have stayed at my place over and over and I don’t want them to be scared off by your potheads.”

“John, we don’t call them potheads. We like to refer to them a tea lovers.”

“Shawn, don’t get cute with me. I know you think I’m being unreasonable here, but there’s going to be trouble. It took me years to build my business and now you come along with your, what do you call it, infused tea and infused food and infused everything else. With people like that you don’t know what they’ll do.”

“And my customers aren’t good enough to be your customers? Seeing that full parking lot of yours makes me think you should be thanking me not bitching about my customers.”

“Shawn, I mean it. You have to do something.”

Shawn was silent for a moment and then said, “Your place is within walking distance of my café. I’ll tell you what, John. I’ll ask Alvin to keep an eye on who comes through our door. I’ll have him ask if they’re local or just visiting and he’ll ask the visitors where they’re staying. And anyone who says they’re staying at The Summit Inn will get a free cup of our best Mary Jane Tea. How’s that for being a good neighbor?”

“This is just a big joke to you, isn’t it? I’m telling you, I don’t want those people in The Summit Inn!”

Shawn took a deep breath, then answered, “Okay, John, here’s what I’ll be happy to do for you. I’ll tell Alvin if he talks to anyone looking for a room, even the surfers and bikers, that they should head over to your place and ask for you. I’m sure they’d enjoy hearing that right from you…in person.”