2 California Tea Shops

When my friends from New York were here, I made one promise to my friend Chloe. And that promise was that we would visit a tea room. Back home, she and I used to frequent Harmony Tea Room in Westwood on a regular basis. I had two places in mind, and needless to say I was pretty excited about the idea of two high teas in one weekend.

First up I made reservations at Lisa's Tea Treasures, which I've walked past a few times in Santana Row. I should have listened to the reviews on Yelp, though, which were generally mixed. And I have to say that my experiences were mixed as well.

One of the many reasons I really enjoy going to tea rooms is the chance to try lots of different foods. It gives me ideas for when we have our own tea parties at home. Some of the sandwiches at Lisa's Tea Treasures were very yummy, but the bread was dried out. Our waitress was also not the friendliest. And considering the amount of money we paid, we weren't given a lot of food. Tea rooms are generally not cheap, but at Harmony we would have gotten twice the amount of food. And at the second room we visited we paid less and got more. But on the other side we got free tea refills.

The room itself did its best to be fancy, but some of the things were also tacky. All in all it just seemed like the room was trying too hard and I don't think I plan to go back, although the tea shop had a lot of cute cups and things.

Meanwhile, we had the good fortune to visit Crown and Crumpet in Ghiradelli Square. The first time I visited San Francisco with Nick, we went to Ghiradelli Square and walked passed Crown and Crumpet. I nearly leapt with glee at the sight of it. Brightly colored, frilly tea embellishments, and British. I knew when my friend Chloe came to visit I had to take her there.

Luckily they had outdoor seating so we were able to go on our day in the city with Charlie. It was a little windy because the square is right on the bay, but it was worth it. Sunny, clear skies, and a great view. We got the tea for three (even though there were four of us) because there was so much food we had more than enough. Four different kinds of tea sandwiches (one of which had a roasted red pepper spread that I plan to try to replicate the next time we have our own party), crumpets, two kinds of scones, and four different desserts. Everything was so delicious, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

Compared to Lisa's Tea Treasures, their shop didn't have as cute of tea things, but they did have a lot of cute things for kids and craft-like food projects. Everything was a little pricey, so I don't think I'll ever purchase anything from there. Unless of course they expand their Alice and Wonderland stock and have something too cute to pass up...and I have a job...which technically I do, but that's a long story...

I can't wait to go back with Nick, or just about anyone for that matter. Definitely a new favorite, and I'm glad I have a suitable replacement for Harmony while I'm out here. It's just too bad that it's not within walking distance like when we were in Westwood.


Mmmmmm.

Let them eat cake! (Or just drink some tea)

Funny how after I finally get back to California all I can think about is going to Harmony Tea Room (or the tea place as we call it). I even had a dream about it last night! What would I do if I could have my own tea party at the apartment?

Invitation:

I like to use Paperless Post when sending out invites to parties. It's much fancier than using Facebook or Evite as you get to put together your own invitation similar to a paper stationary one. In the past I've followed invites up with girls who have said they're coming, but only when I've had extra invites and the time to make the look all pretty.



Dress:

My Aunt Susie says that everything in life should be an experience. No matter how small or how big you need to be in the right frame of mind and appreciate everything you do. How can you get in the right frame of mind for a tea party? By dressing up! Some of my friends wants to kill me for this, but I make everyone dress up. Florals or retro dresses preferred, but as long as you get dressed up it's step one to get you excited for the experience.



Food:

Anything traditional and anything girlie goes. I've tried to recreate some of the recipes from Harmony Tea Room while putting in some traditional fare and also making up my own. At the last party I had (which you are enjoying pictures of in this post we served...

Beverages:
Assorted Teas (blacks, green, and herbal)
Mimosas
Pink Lemonade

Appetizers:
Dates with blue cheese
Apple and tofu salad
Mini Cinnamon Oatmeal Scones
Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Quiche

Tea Sandwiches:
Cucumber and Cream Cheese
Sundried Tomato and Pesto
Grilled cheese with ham and apricot jam

Yeah, I know that's a lot of food, but you know me! I go overboard for everything.



Cookies:
Blackberry Crumble
Vegan Peanut Butter-Banana-Coconut-Chocolate Drops
Linzer Tarts
Mini Pavlovas



(Recipes for all of these fill follow. Just click on the "tea party" tag and they'll come up as I write them.)

Decor:

And as Sandra Lee says, decor and tablescapes are always an important part of any meal. Unfortunately for me, none of my place mats match my favorite tablecloth that's perfect for Spring. But since I like to put out all different kinds of teacups (just like Harmony Tea Room), the disorganization sort of matches. I match all my plates and serving dishes, though, (everything is white) and it brings it all together. Especially when I add a nice bright floral bouquet. And I always play classical music in the background (something nice and light like concertos by Mozart, Chopin, etc.).





And what do you do when you're done gorging yourself on treats? You watch a chic flick of course! We've watched Jane Austen via the BBC and modern movies like The Devil Wears Prada. Whatever floats your estrogen boat.

This kind of made me miss my friends from home a lot! I may need to have some girls over here to have a tea party. I just need to think of an excuse to have one now...Maybe to celebrate that this is my 100th entry?

Restaurant Review: Harmony Tea Room

Hope you all had a great Christmas, I know I did. We even got some snow in! Or should I say, a lot of snow in. We're currently stuck at my parent's house since they canceled our flight back to California because of the blizzard. I have to admit that I've been a little bit upset about this. I love snow, and I am very happy we got to see some while here, but I miss my cats and I'm getting anxious thinking about the mounting mail, laundry pile, and God knows what else is waiting for us when we finally get home. We'll have been gone for almost 2 weeks!

Since I've been so busy here with trying to get in as many visits with people and celebrating the Holiday, I have been away from the computer a lot, so I apologize that this is entry is coming so far away from the last one!

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I love the culture of British tea time. I think my inner girlie girl likes the idea of getting dressed up in florals while eating finger foods and gabbing with my girlfriends. Funny enough, even though I have relatives in England and have spent a lot of time there, it wasn't until after I came home from a summer program abroad that I finally figured out which teas I like. Once that happened I was hooked and I think I'm now mildly obsessed. Some of my friends and I have thrown tea parties, and any time I find a tea shop that serves traditional high tea meals it becomes an instant favorite. One in particular that I really love going to is in Westwood, New Jersey called Harmony Tea Room.

The first few times I went to Harmony Tea Room I wondered how they stay in business. I was usually the only person in the restaurant (besides whoever I was with at the time). But I've gone enough times now to see that they usually do have quite a few tables filled and have special events (like third Sunday brunch, birthday tea parties, showers, etc.) in their separate dining room too. There are times when it is very busy, and then the place feels cramped because the main room is so tiny. But overall, it's a very quaint and relaxing space.

The decor itself is tea and floral themed (really, would you expect anything else) and the places are set with mismatched tea cups and plates. My friends and I love to switch our cups around so we each of the one we like best and we always laugh about how the place turns a bunch of 20somethings into 6 year old little girls.

The tea list is long and while I always get Earl Grey, they have other black teas, green teas, herbal teas, and a favorite of all of my friends, Chocolate Tea. The food itself is traditional tea time fare, scones, sandwiches (I love the turkey and cranberry stuffing one), and cakes (chocolate and peanut butter, white chocolate raspberry, etc.). They also serve salad and soup, and everything changes on a seasonal basis with some of the traditional ones and other favorites (like cucumber sandwiches and chocolate chip scones) being available all year round.

Contrary to what you might think, I've also seen a lot of guys at the restaurant as well. Nick loves it as does one of our friends, and one of my friend's boyfriend is DYING to go.

Harmony Tea Room, is in my opinion, was of the best tea rooms I've ever been to. Considering most tea rooms charge upwards of $30 for a traditional tea and their prices start at $18, it's well worth the money.