Thursday, May 25, 2006

The Tea Room

I took my daughter who just graduated from 5th grade to a new Tea Room in Knoxville that features a great selection of teas, finger sandwiches and tiny salads. I had received a gift certificate to this little gem of a shop but frankly, did not think it would be my cup of tea as I imagined a quiet, reserved place full of delicate socialites discussing their latest art, projects, and charities. I, on the other hand, am a loud talker, rather clumsy, and tiny sandwiches are not my thing. However, I admit that I was wrong about the place.

The shop was charming, the staff sported British accents, great tea suggestions and the food was superb. We had vanilla tea with finger sandwiches filled with artichoke and pesto, pimento cheese and salami (which I do not touch but looked pretty yummy). The tiny salad was amazingly good and the atmosphere was luxurious without being obnoxious. The patrons were cheerful and mainly consisted of moms with their newly graduated daughters--mainly from kindergarten. The staff showed my daughter and me their various tea gadgets, showed us how to make decaf teas and gave us some free samples to try. I would definitely go back. Anyone else have a fun rendezvous with their child or children for graduation?

16 Comments:

Blogger Mercurior said...

real english or fake english accents ;-).

i went to scarborough fair the other week and the fake british accents there, lets just say they grated on my nerves ;-) A LOT

4:01 PM, May 25, 2006  
Blogger Helen said...

Mercurior,

I think they were real--how do you tell the difference?

4:07 PM, May 25, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A few years ago when my daughter graduated from college, my husband and I went down to the school and the night before the ceremony we went out to the bar with her. Now THAT was an experience. *grin*

It was very crowded with graduates and a goodly number of their parents. My daughter seemed to know almost everyone. I asked her how it was possible to be so well known at the bar and also make good grades in her classes. She laughed.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Like a big party at which everyone was behaving well - of course we didn't stay much past midnight so maybe it was rowdier later.

4:51 PM, May 25, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dr. Helen:

You and the busy (and lucky guy) need to take some time off and produce another child.

The "Only Child Gig" ain't what it's cracked up to be later on.

BTW -- Have some real fun with it.

5:16 PM, May 25, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Always ice cream after the first day of school and lunch on the last (half day).

5:16 PM, May 25, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dr. Helen:

Jr. #1 ? He was rebellious he got nothing for graduating anything other than congratulations. He's started four businesses has a fiancee in England, (she's hot, hmmmm kind of looks like you only 20 something)

Jr. #2 he got summer jobs for passing grades -- he graduated college kissed hs hom said the goodbyes, went on the road with a high tech Sales Job, lived in NYC, then moved back and just landed the job he wanted with a Mutual Fund Co. moved into San Francisco Last night, is getting over the first real heartbreak Romance he ever had.

Dulcette Darling Daughter #1, She just passed the Hmmmm, 14th grade ?, the Wife took she and Daughter #2 to Disneyland for 2 days, her steady just got the second highest grade on the MCAT, but he's cool, and she's going to a 90+% muslim country in two weeks to spend her summer working and teaching in an orphanage for boys brought out of slavery.

Dulcette Darling Daughter #2, will gradute High School in a week. She already got a trip to Disneyland, but I'll be poker dealer at the 11 to 3 A.M. shift for the the Lock Down "Grad Night", entertain em so they don't get drunk and crash a car event.

Should be fun.

5:39 PM, May 25, 2006  
Blogger Mercurior said...

if you listen closely and the accent changes more than once in a sentence, then you know its a fake one..

6:01 PM, May 25, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mmmm, finger sandwiches.

Pet peeve:
It's
"The staff showed my daughter and ME"

You wouldn't say the staff showed "I" delicious sandwiches.

8:58 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dr. Helen, you have managed in one fell swoop to bring back delightful memories of a Mom who always had grace and charm, who could put on tea-time with the best of the English and could whip up a scone and a cup of Earl Grey at a moment's notice and you'ld think she had planned it for weeks.

Thanks.

9:01 AM, May 26, 2006  
Blogger Helen said...

Pet Peeve,

Thanks for the correction.

9:34 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tea shops can be amazingly pleasant. My favorite is Antiquity Rose, in Excelsior, Minnesota. The salads are wonderful, the breadsticks delicious, the food pretty darn good. And it's interesting to ponder the differences between tea shops and coffeehouses, even though both sell stimulants and food.

Dr. Ellen

10:47 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a son the same age, 'graduating' from fifth grade in a couple weeks. Since he is a seafood fiend, we will probably go to the local crab house and rip into a pile of crab legs. Predictably, this will end with his younger sister slouching in her seat, nibbling her salad and muttering things like "Barbaric! How can you eat those things." Then he'll tell her the crabs are just big bugs and the whole thing will devolve from there...

12:26 PM, May 26, 2006  
Blogger TigerHawk said...

Fifth grade girls are a barrel of laughs. Got one myself!

10:33 PM, May 26, 2006  
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