PLACES

Madison resident and downtown business owner turns historic home into the city’s first tea room

STORY BY ERIN COGGINS

PHOTOS BY JOSHUA BERRY

DDuring World War II the British government used the phrase “while there is tea, there is hope” to encourage the British citizens to be strong in the face of war. Although Madison is not in the throes of war, there is always room for hope. And now the city has its first tearoom.

It all started when Madison resident Tammy Hall visited the St. James Tearoom while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She found herself returning over and over and even having her daughter’s fifth birthday party at St. James.

“I fell in love with the concept. I had never seen anything like that,” Hall said. “I knew about China, but I had never seen it be used in a restaurant setting that way.”

She began to visit tearooms while on other travels, including Italy where she took mental note of the things she liked. Those mental notes turned into actual plans in October 2022 when the Lanier House became available on Martin Street in downtown.

“It was just something I thought about doing about a month ago,” Hall said. “When the Lanier House became available, I was like I’m doing it.”

Hall feels the Lanier House, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994, is the perfect place for her vision of a tearoom.

“The fireplace makes it perfect,” Hall said. “The little private dining room was important because I knew I wanted to have a private room that we could section off.”

She had the house. She needed China. Although she says her knowledge of China is limited, she knew she wanted to stock the tearoom with porcelain or bone. She began searching Facebook Marketplace and local thrift shops to find the perfect three-piece settings.

“I was like Johnny Cash in that I felt like I had been everywhere to buy China,” Tammy said. “Most of my China was found here in Madison County, but I did drive over an hour to buy some. The farthest place I ordered China from was Ohio.”

Hall says teapots on the other hand were a little more difficult to find. She knew she needed at least 35 teapots to make sure that each table had one to two available for a full service.

“A lot of teapots are collective items and although they were perfect, I did not want to spend $60 for one,” Hall said. “I finally resorted to Amazon where I found a cute collection, so I just mass ordered a bunch.”

Taking a little bit from a tearoom here and a tearoom there, Hall set out to create a quaint experience–something patrons will not get anywhere else. She and her staff see it as pseudo entertaining.

“We want our patrons to feel like this is their time to sit down and relax,” Hall said. “We see ourselves as a host of three parties a day. It’s like going shopping and having the salesperson dote on you. We explain the tray and the tea and chat if we have the time.”

Although the China and teapots are darling, tea is the center of it all. Hall says she is not a connoisseur of tea but became interested in different teas while visiting her mother-in-law in Las Vegas where they frequented a Teavana.

“I started buying loose tea from them all the time and I bought the little pot that you seep it in and everything. There were so many options,” Hall said. “When this whole tearoom concept became a reality to me, I thought finally all of these teas I’ve been drinking all this time can be rotated through my tea services.”

The tea flavors as well as the food offerings change monthly, allowing Hall to keep things fresh and new for customers. The offering is afternoon tea which includes a tea pairing for a savory, a bread and a sweet tray.

“The first tray is the heavier food so you want a heavy tea to go with it. The second is usually a light tea, such as a herbal tea and then with the sweets we usually go with a light black tea,” Hall said. “Right now, I am working on our March menu and the first tea is going to be an Irish breakfast tea.”

Hall has been asked what a tearoom is and she knows the concept is new to some people. The first thing she asks when confronted with this question is “do you watch Bridgerton? Outlander? Pride and Prejudice?’

“If they say they do, then I say well, let’s think about that. Let’s think about when they are in their sitting rooms,” Hall said. “That’s what we want to create. We want to create a large room that is for sitting so then we can prepare small food that is for eating. It’s meant for sharing.”

Hall is no stranger to the food industry, she and her husband have owned and operated Main Street Cafe since 2018. And although the tearoom is separate from the Cafe, Hall utilizes much of the same operational standards; however, the tearoom operates on reservations only.

“Reservations allow us to determine how many people we have to prepare for on any given day,” Hall said. “We do all the preparations before you get here. We then bring out the tray, the tea and it keeps you from having time wasted worrying about what you’ve got to order or anything else.”

Having been open a month, Hall is beyond ecstatic at the number of patrons that have already had afternoon tea. She feels opening the tearoom in Madison was not only a great thing for her, but for the city of Madison.

“I am so happy to be in downtown Madison. I love all the people down here and I want to bring traffic down here,” Hall said. “I cannot tell you countless people who have walked in here and sat down for tea, but they have never been to downtown Madison. Once people know we’re here, they come back, and it has been fantastic.”