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Shelley Osterloh Reporting A long standing dining tradition is coming to an end today. The ZCMI center will soon be torn down as part of the downtown redevelopment project, and so this is the last day the Tiffin Room served lunch.
The Tiffin room you recall has been a quiet getaway in the midst of downtown. Located in Macys, formerly ZCMI, it has served generations, and today many returned to say good bye.
It's been 60 years since Georgeanne Dayton first visited the Tiffin Room, but she came back today to say good bye.
Georgeanne Dayton, Tiffin Customer: "I remember as a girl, a young girl in the 40's coming with my parents and having lunch, it seemed the thing to do in those days when we were visiting Salt Lake. We were from Montana."
The Tiffin Room hasn't changed much over the years. You can still see the rough pine pillars that were hand tooled in 1876 as part of Zion's Mercantile. For as long as any one can remember, people ate on white table cloths and listened to piano music.
Tiffin Customer: "It's classy, it's dignified, with table clothes, silver, music, and quality people. It's not fast paced. My colleagues go down the to food court. And to me for a little more money, you can come up here."
It seems for many, the Tiffin Room holds sweet memories of a time when people dressed up for meals and took time to enjoy them with friends and family.
Tricia Phelps, Tiffin Customer: "I remember coming with my grandma and I remember going to the soda shop which they moved up here...It was special treat to come downtown with her."
I remember as a little girl my mom and I were downtown shopping and we got an impromptu invitation from my grandmother to eat at the Tiffin room. But first we had to go buy a dress because little girls did not eat at the Tiffin room unless they were dressed properly in a skirt.
Many downtown workers say the Tiffin Room provides a quiet getaway served by people you know, like Terese is the 84 year old hostess.
Terese, Tiffin Hostess: "It's been a hard week. It really has been very hard. I've got some customers, but it's been a fantastic job. You couldn't get any better."
Many are sad to see this era of Salt Lake history come to an end. All of the furnishings and the pine pillars will be given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
