UPTOWNflavor

Spot on Tea Time

Whenever I meet someone who lives in Harlem I always ask, Where is your favorite place to eat in Harlem? Recently, I asked a married gentleman this question and to my surprise he responded, the Harlem Tea Room. Since UPTOWNflavor hasn’t featured the Harlem Tea Room yet, there’s no better time than the present.

Passionate about tea with the belief that her neighborhood was ready to share that passion, Harlem natïve Patrice Clayton opened the Harlem Tea Room in 2004. The former financial marketing executive transformed a newly-built retail space at the corner of Madison Avenue and 118th Street into a cozy room warmed by floor length burgundy curtains, a copper tea bar and paisley patterned upholstery. This area of Harlem is coming alive with new entrepreneurs and high profile tenants such as former president Bill Clinton.

Twenty-one teas include herbals, organics and chai. A three course afternoon tea is offered every Saturday by reservation. Children’s tea parties and “tea parties to go” are available. The energetic owner has caught the attention of the Food Network’s Al Roker, Oprah’s O Magazine and The New York Times.

I knew I wanted to open a business in Harlem and I wanted to do something the neighborhood needed, but I knew it had to be something I was passionate about. I came up with the idea of a tea room. In 2003, I gave myself five years to make it happen, but when I returned from vacation in January 2004, I thought, where is my life going? I must do it now!”

Source: Elmwood Inn

The Harlem Tea Room
1793A Madison Avenue
New York, NY
www.harlemtearoom.com