Edition:
March, 2009
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TH News Editor
Most everyone can recall the wonderful Disney animation of the Lewis Carroll classic, “Alice in Wonderland” that turned the English tongue-in-cheek political work into a delightfully charming children’s story.
One of the most memorable parts of the tale was when Alice was confronted with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare having a tea party where there simply was “no room, no room” for her to have a quiet cup of English tea even though the enormous table was fully loaded with hot tea, English sandwiches and delicacies, cups, saucers and no one besides her was present.
Alice left in disgust with the rudeness of the twosome. But if Alice were to enter Rebecca’s Garden Tea Room located at the historic Chimes in downtown lake Elsinore at 201 W. Graham, she would never want to leave the tea table.
Rebecca’s Garden Tea Room has quietly existed in the older portion of The Chimes, located on Spring Street since October 2008, serving a variety of gourmet teas and delightful delicious English finger sandwiches and scones to those with refined and discriminating taste.
Part of Rebeccasfoods.com, the Garden Tea Room is a “must try” for those who love the ambiance of antiques and shabby chic decor.
Owned and operated by Tyra Denson and her sister Denise Hains, along with their mother-in-law Sadie Denson, Rebecca’s Garden Tea Room is a wonderful addition to the culinary offering of historic downtown Lake Elsinore.
Open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., patrons can take advantage of a total menu of homemade pastries and tea sandwiches, fruit compotes and hot scones with real lemon curd imported from England and a menu that provides a high or low tea party for a modest price. The house favorite tea is African Autumn, but they also have Black Currant, Cranberry Autumn, Darjeeling, Bangkok Blend, Earl Grey, Midsummer’s Peach, Raspberry Herbal, Rooibos, Tropical Orange and Passion Fruit. All their teas comes from Harney & Sons, based out of New York. “We’ve tried other blends and brands, we prefer their tea,” says Tyra.
The three women started Rebecca’s Foods in 2004 and have their facility off Chaney Street where they ship and sell the house specialty, Sadie’s scones as shown on QVC, and offered in many Costco Stores. Unhappily, the Lake Elsinore Costco does not carry the brand that is shipped throughout the United States and Canada, but hopefully, that can soon be remedied.
The three women have a love of cooking and decided to open a tea room in the Elsinore area because one lives in nearby Murrieta, one in Menifee and one in Corona. Elsinore was centrally located for each of them and when they learned about the availability of the room they decided to take the plunge.
Rebecca’s Garden Tea Room is already listed as #36 out of the more than 300 tea rooms in the state of California and it is little wonder because the food is outstanding, the service extremely personal and the atmosphere directly out of a Victorian storybook.
The women can serve 28 at one setting and each table in their eclectic tea room is unique with formal settings of china that mix and match on six tables with wicker back to padded chairs. The room is awash with floral arrangements, buffets filled with tea pots and tea services of all sizes and shapes and colors. Tins of tea are displayed along with whimsical items of blown blue glass like the famous blue Bristol glass from England and carnival glass antiques.
“People come in the first time and we want them to feel comfortable and at home,” says Tyra who did all the decor. Tyra adds that when she visited an upscale tea room in San Francisco she thought it was “rather boring because everything was perfectly matched.” “I love shabby chic and blending all kinds of things together, it gives a room so much more character,” she says.
Denise is the cook. She can cook for 50 and just recently did a banquet for some 6,000 in Murrieta which was highly successful. Denise points out that as a mother of one of Murrieta’s Crimson Cadets, she started out cooking the meals for the band and it quickly expanded for the track and football teams and other groups. The feeding of 6,000 was for a special school event that she admits “took a lot of planning and time,” but adds “once you master cooking for 1,000 it’s not that hard.”
The threesome offer adult and children’s parties catering, showers, anniversary, wedding parties and corporate breakfasts. Their ready to bake scones and cookies include lemon, chocolate chip, peanut butter, and snickerdoodles, and the appeal as well as the success of the women is based on the handmade all natural products that they have been successful in marketing. Their full service catering also includes holiday dinners, desserts and full ham and turkey dinners.
Tyra and her husband, Tommie have two grown sons; Denise and her husband, Gene, also have two boys. Both women point out that their respective mates were highly encouraging to them to open the tea room and have been their biggest help. They spoke of walking into a Costco buyer’s meeting with samples of their wares and had an answer back in two days to stock the product. So far, Sadie’s scone mix and the frozen snickerdoodles being the most popular to buyers but other frozen wares are gaining in popularity with patrons as well.
One of the locals in the tea room was having a birthday tea for her young daughter. She noted she had been to the tea room at least 10 times and just loved the atmosphere. “Their scones are delicious and everything is so fresh and they accommodate children, this is an awesome place,” she said.
The Tea Room offers a full tea menu with soups, salads, sandwiches including an excellent strawberry cream cheese and cucumber finger sandwich that practically melts in your mouth. The popular Red Rose Tea complete with sandwiches, scones, fresh fruit, and curd and clotted cream is only $15; the Purple Rose Children’s Tea for little girls 12 and under is also quite generous and is only $10. Prices do not include tax or gratuity.
Tyra and Denise are working on a special fried chicken mix and both claim they love to cook and see the Tea Room as an extension of that love. “If we can get people to come in and enjoy what we make and they feel at home here, they’ll be part of our extended family,” says Denise.
They plan to offer additional wares at the Delaney’s Artisan Food Market that is opening this month in nearby Temecula in the Old Town location on 5th Street. Featuring all organic and farm fresh items from vegetables, meat and fruits, both women feel they will expand their market for their natural products as well.
While they request reservations for groups, an occasional walk-in guest will usually not be turned away. “They just might have a long wait,” laughs Tyra who pointed out that sometimes all of the tables are filled with tea drinkers and others who feel so “at home” they stay talking and enjoying the atmosphere for a couple of hours.
Tuscany Hills residents who enjoy the possibilities a high tea offers can call and make reservations at (951) 471-1740.
