Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Room is good to the last sip

By CHANDRA BROADWATER
Published December 17, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Maurice Rivenbark] Gloria Mitchell, 52, owner of My Fair Ladies Tea Room in Spring Hill, found inspiration in Food Network star Paula Deen.

SPRING HILL - Gloria Mitchell always starts her day with a cup of tea.

At home, after hours of making pot after pot for her customers at My Fair Ladies Tea Room, she ends her day with another.

For her, tea is warm and inviting. It's good to share with friends. It's nice to have alone.

The soothing drink is a reminder of a childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., of stopping by her grandmother's house for tea and cookies after school.

As she dips her dark head of hair down to a steaming cup, she sips memories of the teas she and her daughter, Desiree, used to have before Desiree grew up and moved out on her own.

And, Mitchell adds, tea is the perfect secret ingredient for cooking. The smoky Lapsang Souchong variety adds just the right touch to the lentil soup she serves her lunch crowds.

"I just love how it makes you feel," Mitchell, 52, said on a recent Thursday, just before opening Hernando County's only tearoom for the day. "Tea fits into my life quite nicely."

But three years ago, Mitchell didn't know how it would. Or if it could.

For 15 years, she worked as a division coordinator for a national dialysis company. Though she loved her job, she wanted something different.

Looking around at all of the tea pots crowding their home, her husband, Tim, suggested doing something with them.

Then she came across the first cookbook by now-famous Food Network star Paula Deen. She found it on a shelf in Desiree's kitchen.

At the time, Deen wasn't as famous but did run a successful restaurant, The Lady and Sons, in Savannah, Ga. Mitchell wrote her a letter asking for some advice.

A few months later, Deen wrote back. The letter was dated Oct. 1, 2002. She told Mitchell about how she started her restaurant with $200. She advised her to look for health board-certified kitchens to rent, rather than forking over money for one of her own, at least until profits started to roll in.

And always, Deen said, listen to your customers.

That same year, Mitchell began to look for restaurant spaces. She found out that Mariner Village Plaza on Mariner Boulevard was going up and worked with contractors to build what she needed.

She studied with a French chef for a year, while still working with the dialysis company, and began to piece together a menu. She thought about the teas from all over the world that she wanted to serve. Mitchell also collected cups, plates and pots - all of those pretty little things that make tea so nice.

When the building was ready a year later, she and Tim decorated the tearoom.

Tearoom regular Susan Roebuck loves the cozy feeling of the restaurant. The soft, off-white walls and the warm tones of the glass, wall-mounted lamp shades always make her feel welcome.

A hat rack with fancy hats sits in one corner of the room. On the opposite wall is a chest of drawers with a mirror above. Tea trinkets are everywhere.

"And see this?" Roebuck said, holding up a corner of a peach-mauve tablecloth. Her pecan chicken salad sandwich on a flaky croissant awaited her on the table. Across the way, two ladies dug into their mountainous chicken potpies, the last of the day.

Roebuck then picked up the matching cloth napkin lying across her lap.

"Everything is so nice here," she said. "Even going to the bathroom is a special treat. But the food is what I like, especially the French onion soup."

Aside from lunch, Mitchell also does afternoon teas, which must be made by reservation. She helps people celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and showers with high tea trays full of scones with sweet Devonshire cream and jam, along with finger sandwiches and sumptuous pots of tea.

Young ones are also invited in for teas of their own. Tiny peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always popular, and so is the egg salad. Children are also instructed a bit about tea etiquette - what to do with the napkin and when a gentleman should stand for a lady.

"We have men who come in here, too," Mitchell said. "It's not just for the ladies. We have all kinds of people who come in."

One day, she hopes one of those people is Deen. It would be nice to have a book signing at the restaurant. Mitchell would also like to tell the cooking star how much of an inspiration she has been.

"But you can't just write her letters anymore and expect to get something back," Mitchell said, laughing. "You have to talk to her secretary."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at 352 848-1432 or cbroadwater@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 16, 2006, 20:43:52]