Downtown Seymour — known as the antiques capital of the Valley — is the kind of place where a tea shop would fit right in.
But there hadn’t been one until Tracy Tenpenny of Ansonia got the idea for it earlier this year, while shopping for antiques herself.
So this month, she opened “Tea With Tracy,” a 750-square-foot shop, with bright lights and feminine decor.
“My mother and I have been down here shopping, and I know it’s nice to have a little tea and dessert,” said Tenpenny, 38, a stay-at-home mom.
Tenpenny said she dreamed of opening an old-fashioned tea room — a place for the ladies to chat and sip, like the traditional English afternoon pastime.
Her grandmother was from Australia, so she grew up on old tea traditions, Tenpenny said.
“To me tea is a comfort,” Tenpenny said. “It’s something I grew up with.”
The teas go nicely with a cucumber mint tea sandwich, or maybe a slice of fresh-baked banana walnut bread, Tenpenny said.
For $13, one of the house specialties is an afternoon tea for one, which comes with a scone, choice of tea sandwich, choice of dessert and a two-cup pot of tea.
Afternoon tea-for-two goes for $25.
All the teas are Gevalia brand, a premium line. A 12-ounce cup is $1.50.
And of course there is plenty of iced tea too. Tenpenny brews iced cold Earl Grey.
First Selectman Paul Roy welcomed the new business. He attended a ribbon cutting there this month.
“I think its cool,” Roy said. “It’s the right thing for downtown in the middle of the antiques shops. It should fit right in with that stuff.”
Jeanette Laird, of Oxford, went there for lunch Wednesday with her granddaughter, Jeanette Scinto.
They checked out the local boutiques and enjoyed tea for two.
“They’re very clean, and you get fresh scones, fresh baked items,” said Scinto, who sat with her grandmother beside the front window.
“I wish them the best of luck,” said Laird.
Tenpenny gets help in her tea shop from her daughters, Annalee, 16, and Victoria, 14. Together they serve a variety of teas and fresh-baked desserts including banana bread, Swedish brownies, scones with jam and butter, carrot cake with walnuts and apple torte. There are also fresh muffins and cookies.
She serves coffee too, at $1.50 for a 12 ounce cup, but the theme is tea.
“I find tea a little more elegant,” said Tenpenny.
The hours are Wednesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call Tea With Tracy at 203 – 881-5484.
