The owner of a Parisian-inspired café in East Hills plans to add an English twist this spring.
Daniel Stoffer, owner of The Bradbury Café at 714 Wealthy St. SE in Grand Rapids, said Wednesday, March 23, he is planning to add a high tea experience and a backyard garden at the establishment beginning June 1.
Founded in January 2021, The Bradbury Café is located inside his mother Jean Stoffer’s business, Stoffer Home, a home goods store that Grand Rapids Magazine featured in the May 2021 issue and for which Daniel Stoffer is a cabinetry estimator on top of running The Bradbury.
His mother also owns Jean Stoffer Design, which was featured on Chip and Joanna Gaines’ online Magnolia Network show “The Established Home” alongside The Bradbury Café in January. Daniel Stoffer’s sister, Grace Start, also appears on the show.
A Calvin graduate, Daniel Stoffer launched his entrepreneurial journey after returning to Grand Rapids from New York during the pandemic. His wife, Marisa Heule, had been studying for her master’s degree in New York from 2019-20; meanwhile, he was working at SoHo House, a city club and hotel that offered high tea. He wanted to bring a similar experience to Grand Rapids.
“I wanted to do something big, but then I realized the best way to start in the industry is smaller,” he said. “We had this little room that was underutilized in the home goods store and, spatially, what would fit (there) and something we’ve always been interested in is coffee. So, we decided to start up that brand. I worked with a lot of local people who were familiar with the industry and from there, we started our own custom ceramics collection and expanded that into a coffee and tea brand.”
The Bradbury currently offers drip and cold brew coffee and espresso sourced from Grand Rapids-based Stovetop Roasters; an assortment of loose-leaf teas; and pastries from Field & Fire Café, all of which are served on beautiful European-style ceramics.
Still in the planning stages, the high tea experience at The Bradbury most likely will include locally sourced pastries, chocolates and sandwiches and will be available by reservation starting at 2:30 or 3 p.m. each day. It will be served in the garden, weather permitting, Daniel Stoffer said.
Daniel Stoffer is planning to transform the space in the back of the building that currently is an e-commerce storage area into an English/Parisian-style garden. The Stoffer Home and Bradbury storage space is moving to a warehouse near Nordstrom Rack at Centerpointe Mall, he said.
He added he hopes high tea will allow people to “engage with the brand a little bit more and have that classic European-type experience.”
“We definitely want to focus on local options and make sure it’s something that benefits Grand Rapids directly,” he said. “Grand Rapids has treated us really well — the local support has been overwhelming — and we want to make sure we can give back and be a part of that local environment.”
More information and updates on The Bradbury Café are on Facebook and Instagram. To-go orders can be placed on its website.
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