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I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some negative press and conversation that is out there about The Pink Teacup. My name is Christie and I am the current owner of the The Pink Teacup. While we had not long ago (09/2007)reopened out doors in this beautiful victorian 2 story home on Main Street in downtown Clayton and enjoying the fruits of our labor with this wonderfully successful Tearoom and Bakery, unknowingly my life was about to take an unexpected turn. In February 2008, My brother was hospitalized and diagnosed with advanced 4th state Non Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer in his Sternum and acute kidney failure. he was put on life support and was not expected to live through the week. Being a family owned and operated business we needed to close our doors for a few days t... (more)o be with our family. As the week moved on and he began to show signs of improvement our lives continued on in somewhat of a normal fashion. We continued to maintain our regular business hours as best as we could under the circumstances, closing a few days here and there when needed, but as things would have it, his wife was not able to maintain things and suffered a nervous breakdown requiring immediate hospitalization at another medical center 2 hours away from her husband. I was then faced with maintaining my business and taking care of all of my brothers medical needs as well as his wifes needs along with taking care of their 3 children and home. Although dedicated to my business I found myself being torn between the two greatest loves of my life, My growing business that was still in its infant stages and my family. I certianly could not do both. As the weeks wore on and I began to struggle to keep a balance it became painfully obvious that something was going to have to give. As his health began to deteriorate day by day I knew I was going to have to close the Tearoom an take care of my brother and his family. So the decision was made to close. Arrangements were made to allow us to transition out of the building and to release me of any financial obligations of my lease. As of May 1, 2008 I have not had any involvement in the operations of the current Cafe. The landlord has since reopened the location into a Cafe and is now open for business.
I would like to first thank all of my wonderful customers for all their love and support over the last several months and thank you for all your prayers and cards you have sent our way. I also would like to apologise to all of you for not giving you my all in the last 14 weeks of business while under my ownership and for any inconveniences anyone may have experienced due to the situation.
I encourage all of you to please give the new owners an opportunity to fine tune their business and please give them all of your support as you have givin me in the past. I've made mistakes and so will they, so please be patient, It will take some time for them to work out all the glitches.
As far as the future of The Pink Teacup, I hope one day that I may be able to reopen and see you all again. but right now, I need some time to grieve and heal and be with my family. Until then, THANK YOU for all your love and support and I do miss you all. The past 6 months have been very trying for all of us and we ask that you keep praying for his family and mine.
With all my Love,
Christie Cogar
Owner/Operator of The Pink Teacup
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- Christie 07/28/08
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Where to begin. This establishment is really just a place to have lunch that happens to serve tea in teapots and lunch on 3 tiered servers. This is definitely not proper tea. This may be fine for those who are not familiar with proper tea service, but if you've had proper tea, you will be disappointed in this tea house
1. the staff was wearing VERY casual clothes. for example, shorts,tee shirts and flip flops. a very young girl was even serving us(under age 12). If they wanted to remain casual they could have worn plain white pants with a nice crisp pink shirt(you know like for the 'pink' teacup). This attire seemed very out of place with the nice victorian setting of the renovated home it was placed in.
2. Water was served from clear plastic Dixie type cups. Is this a diner or a t... (more)ea house?
3. No half-n-half for my tea. Only milk or honey. This is the first tea house I've been to that did not have cream for the tea.
4. packets of sugar instead of sugar cubes. This is also the first tea house I've been to that did not have sugar cubes. I can get sugar packets at any Waffle House.
5. The tea was said to be loose leaf, but either they strained it before putting it in the pot or the pot had a built in strainer(not likely). I prefer my tea to have loose leaf in the pot and a seperate strainer for my cup so that I can see the leaves and let the tea steep longer if needed. That being said, my tea was not strong enough.
6. No scones! If what they served were scones, they were not traditional(very bisuity) and NO devonshire cream for them. What they had in a little saucer was something that looked kind of creamy ,but not devonshire. There was jam. The kind you get from a big jar as I saw them spooning it out from behind the curtain in the kitchen.
7. candles on the table were burned down. It was daylight, but still unprofessional looking.
8. A small table that looked as if it was set up for children that were to attend was unkempt. The place setting was okay, but the teacups had a LOT of dust in them and could not be used. We ended up giving those at that table some extra teacups from our table.
NOW some things that were nice about the pink teacup:
1. The victorian house was beautifully renovated and very quaint.
2. The tea cozies were cute. However, I still prefer to see the actual teapot, not covers on them. I assume they also kept the tea warm. Other places usually have a burner under the teapot to keep it warm. Still,not a bad touch.
3. The cake they served after the finger sandwiches was moist and dense and very good.
4. The china was very pretty, although I did notice the plate my friend was eating off of was chipped .
These folks could really use some major brushing up on their knowledge of tea houses. It's the small things that make a big difference, like the sugar cubes, half and half and their work attire.
I prefer a more formal tea, not an alice in wonderland type. Even in a more casual tea setting, it is a rather rude awakening when you are all dressed for tea with hats and gloves to have your server walk in looking like she just came from a basketball game.
So to sum it up. The main things needed are
the right condiments, dress, scones and PLEASE devonshire cream.
Not a bad place for a casual lunch, but definitely not an ideal tea house.
The luncheon itself was VERY nice because it was with friends. It is a very cozy and nice place to eat with friends because you are all in a nice little room. It's very private. Just don't expect a real tea house.
the first reviewer obviously doesn't know or hasn't been to a proper tea service. I was warned by a co-worker before I went that the servers did not dress the part and she was right, so I'm not sure what the first reviewer is talking about. I went in May of 2008.
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- Sheila 06/07/08
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To all those people who are trying to make the waitress and owner look bad by saying things that arent true i suggest that if you didnt like how they bring them selves then just dont go back!.
but i have been there several times before and the girls wore very beautiful attire!
and in any case everywhere you will go there will be agruments and so forth...
and most importantly there food is excellent! they never have any food i never liked
Girls keep up the good work the Brocoli Salad gets better Everytime
hopefully when you open during Diner Hours you will have more Excellent Tastes!
Sincerely, Hanna
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- Hanna from New Jersey 12/17/07
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Why are there two review sections for the tea room? I understand that all these reviews are for the current management that just moved from one location to the other. It is confusing to have reviews for the currant management under two titles. Same management but different location. My tea came luke warm to me and there was hardly any filling in my sandwich. I was disappointed, but will give it one more chance.
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- Anne 12/04/07
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I tried to go to their old location down the street last year and never made it but this past weekend my sister and I were there for the Grand Re-Opening. WOW! What a beautiful place this is. We had no idea what we were missing all this time. They had such a wonderful display of ALL their delicious salads and Teas and some amazing desserts from the Bakery. My favorite was the Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll and the Lemon Curd. I can't wait to go back.
Kristin & Lisa
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- Kristin & Lisa 12/03/07
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