This Moncton Tea Room Is Also A Boutique For Antique China
MONCTON – Jassy Kim has been collecting antique china for eight years. “It’s beautiful,” she says. Now, she and husband Kane Kang share their collection at Jassy Boutique & Tearoom, an antique-themed café on 130 St. George St.
Inside the café, there are antique china in glass cabinets, on the walls, and on shelves that cover the length of the walls.
The café opened on September 1, offering beverages like matcha latte, high-end loose teas, and espresso. It also offers macarons, cookies, and sandwiches. The couple had planned to open earlier but had to wait due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Kang says at first they wanted to create a showroom for Kim’s antiques because there was no space left to store them in their home. So they bought the building on St. George St. around five years ago.
Kim is also a fan of teas, and the couple would try teas from all over the world. One of Kang’s friends suggested they open a café alongside the display room.
“So after, we decided to open a boutique and tea room,” said Kang. “It’s very popular in South Korea – themed cafés.”
The café now carries the brand TWG, a luxury artisanal tea from Singapore. Starting October 1, they will offer an afternoon tea set as well.
The response has been good so far because people who passed by the property had been curious and waiting for them to open for months. What surprises Kim and Kang are the number of young people who have visited.
“We didn’t expect that,” says Kang.
“They like especially matcha,” Kim says.
Kang and Kim moved from South Korea to Canada at the end of 2012. Kang, who was a TV show producer there for two decades, said life was tougher at the time for him and Kim, who was a music composer.
“I had to work early morning to late night – very competitive,” he said.
Additionally, they wanted to support their two children, who have aspirations to be musicians and artists.
“We wanted to [raise our kids] with their own dreams. So that’s why we moved to Canada. It’s more peaceful, more opportunities for everything,” Kang said, adding that in Canada, “we had to start from scratch.”
They started an online business selling antique china for customers in South Korea, China and elsewhere. They also buy antiques from customers.
“It’s like consignment,” Kim says, adding they still do this although customers can also buy the antiques on display at the tea room.
Many of the pieces are from the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Kim’s favourite pieces are Aynsley and Paragon-branded china from the U.K., and Limoges china from France. She posts photos of them on the business’s social media accounts.