After twenty years in the hospitality industry in Perth, Cherie Storm needed a change. Accordingly Storm, the former manager of the now-gone but much loved Peppers restaurant and current co-owner of Marschino in Fremantle, finally took a sabbatical last year. Following the much needed break, Storm embarked on her latest venture, Steeper Tea and Bits n’ Bobs earlier this year. Tucked into the shops lining Beaufort street between the Inglewood Hotel and Central Ave, Steeper boasts an eclectic mix of retro and vintage inspired gifts and homewares. The piece de resistance, however, is the petite tea bar attached to the store, where people can sit and ‘steep’ in old fashioned hospitality while sipping one of over fifty-four Japanese teas on offer. That’s exactly what I did one rainy Friday afternoon as Cherie shared her story with me.
‘I’ve had a very fast paced life,’ says the thirty nine year old Leo. Although her passion for Maraschino and the food and wine industry is apparent as she talks, it’s also true that she was in search of ‘quality of life,’ and the pace of the industry was getting in the way. From a very young age Cherie had an interest in design and seriously considered studying it before turning to hospitality instead. When she bought Marschino, its original name was ‘Steep’ and it sold a variety of teas. This planted the seed of the idea for her ‘Steeper’ store. The name has eclectic references too, with the ‘er’ coming from the movie ‘Romper Stomper’ and the ‘tea and bits n’ bobs’ a way to describe the quirky collectibles within it. Opening the store created an opportunity to be surrounded by the things she loves as well as enjoy a quieter pace. ‘I am a hoarder but I’m actually a collector as well,’ says Cherie, ‘I started collecting when I was eleven.’ She started with comic books and figurines, moving on to collecting antique furniture when she was sixteen.
While Japanese tea and retro/vintage style may seem like an odd mix, it works surprisingly well. Cherie tells the story of how tea was born, with the first leaves falling into a monk’s pot of hot boiling water. She doesn’t preach, but Cherie has been a practicing Buddhist for most of her life. Perhaps this is why she gets so much pleasure from seeing people happy. ‘Retro and vintage inspired themes always seem to bring smiles to people due to the memories they conjure. I think the interest is because some of these eras are connected to such intense pleasurable memories which do not exist in today’s world. This is a time when children really played, when cars were beautiful, people were well dressed and the style that existed then (is something that) we have never been able to replicate.’
Mixing the two together allows her to indulge her love of hospitality with this nostalgia. Cherie says that a love of tea is ‘like wine appreciation without the arrogance’. The similarities between her past and current vocation ends there though. ‘Steeper is more about creativity and sourcing products.’ Some of those products are antique Japanese teapots, metal pedal cars and retro phones. New lines coming in the future include a collection of gay artwork and pulp t-shirts.
Steeper Tea and Bits ‘n’ Bobs is at 815 Beaufort St Mt Lawley, Ph 9271 5171.
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