Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom Leeds: Meet the owner behind one of the best rated afternoon tea spots in the city

Natasha O’Reilly took over Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom, located in the Grand Arcade, in December 2020 after its previous owner was looking to sell the business. 

A business consultant advising in asset acquisitions by trade, Natasha had never imagined she would own a tearoom, much less one in the Grand Arcade.

The 49-year-old explained that the grade-two listed building was difficult for her to visit after the death of a family member, who used to hire out the Atrium, in the Grand Arcade, for parties and family functions.

Natasha said: “I never used to go in that arcade a lot because it was too sentimental for me. And then one day, I walked past and saw the tearoom was up for sale and I was like, ‘I'm gonna buy it’ because that was our old haunt.” 

Running a tearoom was new to Natasha, and running the business during the pandemic was far from easy. Nonetheless, the new owner was determined to make it work and began making a few changes.

“It was exciting, but also a bit daunting,” Natasha said.

She added: “We'd been told by others, saying ‘it's a leaky bucket, we're going into this massive Covid-19 lockdown, all restaurants are going to close’. So to be able to pull that off and keep my investors interested in the middle of a pandemic was genius. 

“We changed the dynamics of the company during the pandemic, we went straight to delivering and boxing afternoon teas.” 

Many other changes followed; Natasha, of Caribbean heritage, wanted to expand the menu to be more inclusive and bring some of the dishes she had grown up with to the tearoom.

She also wanted the afternoon teas to be available to people with varying different dietary requirements. Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom now offers gluten-free and vegan afternoon teas.

And customers are “enamoured” by the selection available now, Natasha said. 

She added: “People have come in and said, ‘thank God, I can have cake again that actually tastes like cake’. You don't realise when people have all these restrictions and allergens that they sometimes miss out on the good things in life.” 

Customers with dietary restrictions often share how comfortable and at ease they feel dining at Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom with Natasha, but they also marvel at how flavoursome the dishes are.

Natasha said: “We purchase everything based on order. We don't just have food sat waiting for people. Everything is bespoke and tailor made for the customer. If they want no sauces, no garnish, no butter, we do that.”

And Natasha is proud to be one of the best-rated afternoon tea spots in the city, loved by not only people in Leeds but the county and beyond.

She said: “Our customers are so nice. We're the cheapest in Leeds for afternoon tea but they run to give you a tip and sometimes it's above and beyond what we expect.

“We get international customers from Japan coming over all the time. I've got customers that come from Canada and we’ve got schools that come from Amsterdam. I've got a specific customer that says she doesn't feel like she's in Britain until she has had her afternoon tea at our tea room.”

The last four years have been a blast, Natasha said, but hiring young females in the culinary industry, regardless of what stage of education they are in, has been the highlight. Natasha said: “Seeing the passion in some of the youngsters, the flair and their creative skills - that is a lovely feeling. Seeing the response from them, the dedication that they have and applying their creative skills to the tearoom, it’s really nice. 

“Being a safe space for some people, as well. We've got a lot of neurodiverse patrons who come and have a regular seat and it's a safe space for them.”

Looking ahead at the next four years, Natasha would like to see the business expand and is looking for investors to make that dream come true. In the meantime, Natasha is doing whatever she can to get the word out about Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom.

The business owner is excited to announce that Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom will be home to the Tiny Team Room concerts, starting May 28. 

Taking inspiration from Tiny Desk Concert, a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR, Natasha hopes to champion local talent while introducing music lovers to the wide range of afternoon tea available at Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom.

She explained: “There’s only so much you can do with food. How do you get into different markets and different demographics? You have to branch out and merge, collaborate with other people.

“We love music, that section of the Grand Arcade has got a lot of nightclubs, a lot of musical bands so it was a bit of a no brainer. We're just trying to just branch out but not too far away from the game.”