Birkinshaw's tea room, coffee house & restaurant.
Comfortably housed in an old brick warehouse with the entrance on Ratchford Street, in Amherst, NS. Birkinshaw has retained much of the building's historic character and offers a calm and relaxing environment.
With vintage china and tablecloths, easy chairs and coffee tables, you can decide whether to linger with coffee and cake, enjoy a lovely light lunch, or meet for a cream tea with your colleagues to end the week on a high note.
Owner/operator, Adrian Bligh had been running a Princess Auto in Saint John, NB, but after 3 years, he was fed up with working away from his wife Eleanor and family. After leaving St. John behind and staying in Amherst, he had difficulty finding meaningful employment for the skillset he possessed. Then he came to CBDC Cumberland about starting his business.
Inspired by stories his mother had shared of his grandfather in England, Adrian (an award-winning baker) and his wife Eleanor (an award-winning cook) opened Birkinshaws on Dec. 20, 2017, and have been a success ever since.
“Grandad spent a lot of his time ‘in service’ as a butler with my nana as a cook.” Adrian admired.
They worked for the Mars family (Mars bars and other chocolate bars), the owners of Time-Life magazine, and various members of the English aristocracy.
Back home in Amherst success has been as sweet as their desserts. Amongst the many accolades, Chatelaine listed Birkinshaws as “One of the top 10 places for afternoon tea in Canada.”
Other awards and mentions include:
- Winner of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce 'Small business of the Year Award 2018'
- Featured in At Home on the North Shore Magazine.
- Featured in Saltscapes Magazine.
- Winner of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) New Tourism Business of the Year Award 2020.
- Featured on CTV Morning television cooking live representing the Town of Amherst.
- Selected products are chosen for The Halifax Bloggers Christmas Wish List.
- TripAdvisor, certificate of excellence 2019,
- Restaurant Guru for best desserts 2019
- Amherst News readers awards for best desserts and milkshakes for 2018 and 2019.
From the staff at CBDC Cumberland, we wish Birkinshaws tearoom, coffee house & restaurant all the best.