Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Neighborhood Report
Come for tea, stay for charm
The Tea Rose Cottage is one of the new businesses in 19th Street's historic casitas that will host open houses.
By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published October 13, 2006
The aroma of oven-fresh blueberry cream scones swept the kitchen of the historic casita on 19th Street. There were three scones, one for each guest expected at the Tea Rose Cottage for morning tea on a recent Thursday. Owners Angela Ceglio and Jennifer Weaver stenciled small sandwiches, mixed Devon cream and decorated bite-size carrot cake muffins with icing in preparation for the first of three daily sittings. They wore matching pink aprons embroidered with their names. Ceglio accessorized hers with pink pearls. The old friends who met as co-workers at a Hallmark store had performed this same ritual long before they bought the House of Two Sisters tea room in June. They hosted dining room tea parties for friends, in hopes that one day, they might open their own tea room. Every day, Weaver's mother, Ruth Weaver, opened the newspaper classified section and said, "I'm going to find our tea house in here." One morning, she did. The women were sold on the location. "It was such a charming street," Ceglio said. After the Tea Rose Cottage opened early this summer, Sharon Rose's Mermaid's Slipper boutique moved from the end of the block into the casita next door. The Tre Amici coffee bar opened next to that in September, and Cigar City Magazine will move into the last restored casita on the block later this month. The casitas were built in the late 19th century for cigar workers' families. The Florida Department of Transportation moved and restored them a few years ago as part of the Interstate 4 widening project. The hope was that renting the houses to shops and artistic businesses would help promote nearby Ybor City State Museum, which also borders Centennial Park. The new businesses on 19th Street want to introduce themselves to the public. Along with Ybor artist Arnold Martinez, whose art gallery occupies a casita, they'll host an open house the second Friday of each month from now until December, starting today. For the 19th Street Stroll, each business will turn on its porch light from 5 to 8 p.m. Guests will have a chance to win a cigar box full of goodies from each casita. Dianne Ferrar and two friends from Orlando, Susan Trembley and Paula Giannanco, got their first taste of the new tea house last week. They meet for lunch a few times a year and prefer quiet tea rooms to noisy restaurants. The fans of the House of Two Sisters tea room were quickly impressed by the Tea Rose's lace drapes and chandeliers, and the sunlight pouring in through the windows. "I feel like I've stepped back in time to a comfortable friend's home," Trembley said. Such is the charm of the casita. Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com. A TASTE OF CLASS IN THE HEART OF YBOR It serves more than 40 flavors of tea at bridal and baby showers and princess parties. Seatings are at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and at noon and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Reservations are required for the full serving, which includes tea sandwiches, scones with cream, jam and lemon curd, desserts, sorbet and an endless pot of tea. But walk-ins are welcome when seating is available for all other tea services. To make reservations, call 248-2040. IF YOU GO The 19th Street Stroll is from 5 to 8 p.m. on the second Friday of each month until December, including today, on the 1900 block of N 19th Street in Historic Ybor City.
[Last modified October 12, 2006, 11:35:11]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
