TracyFood

Tea for Tuesday: three with Allison. 3 February 2009 12:59 pm

Posted by Tracy in : friends,fun,nyc,pictures,restaurants,reviews,tea , trackback

So. Long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and Allison lived at the House of Infinite Monkeys in Eugene (and some time before then, too), we used to go out to tea at a little place called Savouré in Eugene. For a while it was a near-weekly ritual, but then the prices went up and we cut back to twice, and eventually once a month. (Later, Savouré moved to a new location, with only a retail area, so we couldn’t go out to tea there any more — very sad.) But. In its glory days (yes, I think Bruce Springsteen won the Superbowl, and you’d better not have a problem with that), full tea at Savouré involved one of those fabulous three-tiered presentations of sweets (petit fours, among others), savories (tiny sandwiches, natch), and in between, scones with clotted cream and jam. Similar setups were available at two of the tea places we visited last week, and now I sort of wish I’d tried them, which is pretty high praise for a tea place. Anyway. Here’s quick reviews of where we went, before I forget.

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Radiance Tea House & Books

We found this place at 158 West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) thanks to free wireless internet from a Starbucks near the Russian Tea Room, which turned out to be way out of our price range. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I met up with Allison at her fancy hotel in SoHo on Tuesday morning, and shortly thereafter we had brunch at Elephant and Castle in the West Village. We wandered through the Washingon Square end of NYU just long enough to get really cold and make plans to meet Ophelia at Grand Central, where the people-watching was excellent as always. Next up: FAO Schwarz:

Clearly, we needed tea after those exertions. A doorman at the Plaza Hotel helpfully directed us to the Russian Tea Room (“It’s by Carnegie Hall,” he said. “You know how to get to Carnegie Hall, right?” and for once I had the clever answer: “Practice, practice, practice!”) where the prices were shocking, but Starbucks wireless and iPod touch located Radiance, not far away. Yay! Allison had Lavender Black Tea, Ophelia got Caramel Oasis, and I had Autumn Moon. Eventually we had some sesame-peanut sweet buns, but mostly we just camped out and chatted and admired all the shiny things for sale in the retail part of the tea room.

Our later tea expeditions were somewhat more planned.

Tea and Sympathy

On Wednesday, I suggested going to the Union Square Greenmarket for cider and donuts, but Allison voted for something more substantial, and had done her homework on the tea place we’d failed to brunch at the previous day (they weren’t open yet). So Tea and Sympathy it was. I had the cream tea (scones with clotted cream and jam), Allison the Cornish pasty with mashed potatoes and baked beans, and we shared a big pot of English Breakfast. I wish I’d had room for more substantial food (three tiers of glory, perhaps), but I was glad to have kept my eating light when I saw the ladies next to us ordering dessert — sticky toffee pudding with custard. There’s always room for sticky toffee pudding, right? Last Wednesday, there definitely was, even in a space as tiny as Tea and Sympathy. Other important notes about T & S: it’s hyper-British (just go to the website and check out that menu if you don’t believe me), it has a retail shop next door, and just beyond that is a fish and chips shop called A Salt and Battery, which I really need to check out one of these days.

Alice’s Tea Cup

Warning: the above link will resize your browser window. I have no idea why. But that’s one of my stronger complaints about Alice’s Tea Cup, which is to say I liked it very much. On Thursday morning, Allison and I met my mom at the Upper West Side “chapter” of Alice’s Tea Cup (they also have two locations on the Upper East Side). We got there in time to just get the breakfast menu, which meant poached eggs, biscuits, and Hollandaise for all of us — yum. Mom had the one with sautéed spinach and greens, Allison had the one with smoked salmon and a side of asparagus and roasted pears (so awesome), and I went for the plainer options, with a side of regular potatoes instead of the potato-chicken hash. (Note to self: totally substitute the asparagus and pears next time.) The tea list is very extensive, but eventually Allison decided on a nice smooth Assam named Sessa, Mom had something lighter and fruitier called St. Mark (which went great with the cookie plate we shared at the end of the meal), and I got an almost startlingly robust blend called Mount Everest Breakfast. The restaurant is Alice in Wonderland-themed, and the decorations are super-cute even with the ceiling wrapped in plastic due to the repairs happening upstairs. It’s roomier than Tea and Sympathy, but it was starting to get crowded by the time we left a bit after noon, so my recommendation is to show up early and enjoy that breakfast menu, not that there’s anything wrong with that. You can even get three tiers of breakfast, if that’s your style. I’m just sayin’.

Yay for tea! I’d happily go back to any of these places, but Alice’s was probably my favorite. Thanks for being my excuse to explore so many fun tea shops, Allison! Come back soon!