COEUR d’ALENE — There’s a table in Ten/6 that once sat in the kitchen of TJ Taylor’s childhood home.  

For Taylor and her mom, Jill Davis, sitting at it to discuss the brunch restaurant’s recent national recognition as one OpenTable'sTop 100 Brunch Restaurants for 2025 was a full circle moment.

“It kind of all started here,” Taylor said.

Having cooked and baked together for Taylor’s entire life, Taylor foretold the mother-daughter duo’s future when she was only 13 years old.  

“She said, ‘Mom, one of these days we’re going to have a restaurant, and it’s going to be called Ten/6,’” Davis recalled.

The name is a reference to a tag on the Mad Hatter’s hat in Alice in Wonderland, a story long beloved by Taylor.

In addition to the name, the duo’s love for Disney was a big inspiration for the whimsical and wholly unique atmosphere of the brunch spot.

Chandeliers cast a warm, cozy glow over the darkly painted dining space, and they illuminate various wall art, antiques and trinkets for added flair.

Each piece in the space was collected over the years specifically for the restaurant — including the orange patchwork curtains, which were the first thing the duo bought for Ten/6 20 years ago.

The goal, Taylor said, was always to create a place that felt like walking into a fairy tale, even for just a little while.

“What better way to do it than with a little wacky and whimsy?” Taylor said.

The sheer originality of Ten/6 is part of what landed them in OpenTable’s Top 100 list — the only brunch spot in Idaho and the Inland Northwest region to do so this year.

Selections were made based on ratings from patrons, demand for reservations and five-star reviews.

Their Cajun/Creole menu was inspired by a trip Davis took to New Orleans over 30 years ago, in addition to 15 years of education in Cajun/Creole styles of cooking from a close friend.

Fittingly, Ten/6 opened its doors just over a year ago on May 1, 2024.

Their first location, which Taylor and Davis now refer to as “Chapter One,” was open for about two and a half years on North Fourth Street before the COVID-19 pandemic and received national recognition as well.

Ten/6 ranked 94th on Yelp’s list of “America’s Top Places to Eat in 2020,” which was published in February of that year.

The duo attributes the success of Ten/6 to their team and the community that has rallied around them since even before the opening of “Chapter One.”

“We laugh all day long, and I think that’s really all that matters,” Taylor said. “I think that guests can feel that too. ... We have so many patrons that are quite literally family now.”

“We wouldn’t be here (without them),” Davis added. “There’s no way these doors would even be open.”

Ten/6 is located at 1705 N. Government Way, Suite 101 in Coeur d’Alene.