Rabu, 17 Februari 2010

The Adventures of Lemon Verbena Lady and The Herbal Husband!

I have been waiting patiently for almost two years for these signs to appear again.  Nearly two years ago, I spotted AntiquiTea across the street from the local hardware store.  It was a quaint house and it had a big sign on the lawn stating their last day (the next day) was April 15th because they were moving!  Jump forward to last week, February 9th to be exact and AntiquiTea reopened in their new location.

I told The Herbal Husband he was taking me for a post Valentine's Day afternoon tea!  He was definitely on board.  He loves afternoon tea.
 
We had a cozy table for two.  The tearoom is very English in style.  Nicole and her mother, Patty have done a first class job in the decorating.  Well, I'm sure you want to know about the food and tea.  AntiquiTea has a long list of loose tea brewed in individual pots.  The Herbal Husband went with his favorite, Earl Gary and I had the French vanilla.  Delish!

Now for the food.  We started with Cream of Artichoke soup.  Beautifully presented in a tea cup and very tasty. 

Next came the tea sandwiches, tea breads, scone and pastries.  Here is our tea stand.

















There were four different tea sandwiches, including Pimento Cheese, Cucumber Mint, Chicken Salad on croissant and a spinach cheese square or tart.  I was enjoying every bite and I forgot to take some closeups of the rest of our tea stand!  Oh well, next time!  We had a butter cream scone with clotted cream and lemon curd and a lemon poppy seed tea bread.  We finished with a fruit garnish and a pistachio cookie, orange mousse pastry and a chocolate truffle.  It was beautifully presented and very delicious!



We don't have Bernideen's or Sweet Remembrances, but we do have AntiquiTea and we are thrilled!  Both The Herbal Husband and I are looking forward to going back.  It should be noted that they do serve lunches and have a party room that accommodates 50 people.  They are having a Victorian fashion show tea this Sunday.  Please call if you are at all interested, maybe they still have room!  So they are having special events already.  They do have a website, however, it needs to be updated.  At the moment, you can reach them through this Tea Map link.  AntiquiTea is located in beautiful downtown West View and if you are in the Pittsburgh north hills vicinity, you need to give them a try.  It was a very delightful afternoon.