May 24, 2024
This Issues Topics:
2024 • Business Connections • Chehalis • May
Joy Templeton holds a plate of muffins inside Once Upon a Thyme in Chehalis 2022

By Emily Fitzgerald
For the C-C Chamber of Commerce

Joy’s Once Upon a Thyme in Chehalis is looking to embark on a new chapter as founder and owner Joy Templeton works to purchase the building her restaurant has operated out of for years. 

“I’m happy to say I’m purchasing the building for what I think I can afford, and we’ll be heading in that direction,” Templeton said at an Economic Alliance of Lewis County Women in Business Seminar in March.

A second-generation chef and longtime caterer, Templeton opened Once Upon a Thyme after moving north from San Francisco.

“After spending a lot of time on an organic farm, I tended to look at food every differently, seeing how it was grown and how it can be more nurturing than satisfying.

And that’s how I ended up where I am today at Once Upon a Thyme,” Templeton said at the seminar.

Once Upon a Thyme focuses on bringing fresh, healthy dishes made with seasonal ingredients to Chehalis. 

The restaurant also hosts cooking classes and has a market that sells prepared dishes to take home, as well as some of the ingredients the restaurant uses.

Coming up, Once Upon a Thyme will have an earlier opening time, 9 a.m., and will have some promotions centered around customer appreciation, Templeton said.

“We’re hoping to generate some more customers, or if

someone has a meeting or wants to get together earlier,” Templeton said. 

Once Upon a Thyme has also extended its catering work, frequently catering events for the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum.

Joy’s Once Upon a Thyme is located at 1090 Northwest State Avenue in Chehalis. For more information on the business and upcoming events, visit https://www.facebook.com/JoysOnceUponAThyme.

 

 

Joy's Once Upon a Time in Chehalis, photographed in 2023

Photo by Emily Fitzgerald