About Us

The toy store for cooks and chefs

If you are a "kitchen-store-junkie" or love to cook or bake, your trip to The Keeping Room, the kitchen store in Dundas, will be like stepping into a toy store made just for you.

This little shop is stuffed to the rafters with every imaginable tool or gadget to make your culinary tasks easy.  From cookware to specialty bake pans, Phyllis and her helpful staff are there to guide you with lots of information on their products and it's uses.

For the entertaining guru, a vast selection of glassware and serving pieces, including a handsome line of Asian accessories will make your shopping experience a pleasant one!

One of the fun things about visiting The Keeping Room is the surprise visits from celebrity chefs from across the country.  Through the week at lunchtime, you may just happen upon Matt Hayes from CH News at Noon interviewing these talented chefs whilst upgrading his own culinary skills!

These sessions are always fun, always interesting and you are always welcome.

Resident Chef: Judith Birchall
Judith Birchall holds a B.A. in Fine Art & Art History, she graduated with honours from the Chef Program at George Brown College.  Judith apprenticed in Toronto and worked with some of Toronto's top chefs.  In 1990 she returned to her hometown and began work at the Sheraton Hamilton where she was quickly promoted to Executive Sous Chef.

Since the hotel Judith has cheffed at "Lo Prestis at Maxwell's", Inpiazza in Burlington and Spenser's in Dundas (where she made the list "Where to Eat in Canada")  Currently, Judith is Chef Proprietor of IL Fiasco Restaurant on Locke Street in Hamilton.

Director:  Phyllis Kraemer
With the Open Kitchen Cooking School, Phyllis has extended the unique style and personality of her kitchen specailty shop - "The Keeping Room" ...the large central room in the homes of settlers during colonial days.  It was here that the pioneer family would cook, eat, and entertain... a warm place where people talked, learned and lived. 

It is her intention that the Open Kitchen Cooking School's approach reflect the same!  An accomplished cook, Phyllis loves to entertain, is an avid collector of cookbooks and is always ready to share her enthusiasm for the kitchen with anyone who is interested!