Photograph by Cybelle Codish
When Carol Lufburrow began dining at a little vegetarian restaurant 15 years ago, she loved almost everything about it.
But the coffee mugs weren鈥檛 her cup of tea. What they needed, she thought, was a little refinement in the form of delicate china cups.
Quietly, she began leaving a cup and saucer as a sort of tip after each meal, a habit that earned her the nickname 鈥淭eacup Bandit.鈥
Today, Royal Oak鈥檚 Inn Season restaurant has a china cabinet-size collection of mismatched cups, thanks to Lufburrow, who drives from Grosse Pointe Woods at least four times a week to dine at the intimate caf茅.
Lufburrow, a U.S. Army Tank and Auto Command retiree, regards the gifts as a way to help her favorite dining spot.
To maintain her giving ways, she scouts estate and rummage sales for pieces that attract her, always scrutinizing the inventory for rarities, such as teacups used at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
鈥淕enerally, when I go to an estate sale, if I know they鈥檒l have a lot of teacups, I鈥檒l just buy them all; that way, each time I go into the restaurant I can end with a teacup,鈥 she says.
Affection for the Inn Season is her only motive for her purchases. 鈥淚f the restaurant closed,鈥 she says, 鈥淚鈥檇 be selling a whole lot of teacups.鈥
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