Tea and Sympathy
by Anita Naughton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anita NaughtonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-10-28
ISBN: 0399149376
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Book Reviews of Tea and Sympathy
Book Review: Authentic British Feel Good Food!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having lived in London in the late 60s and early 70s, I was surprised to find there were no real authentic British restaurants in New York City. I am not a Pub person, so sitting alone with a pint in some dark-wooded, beer-smelling bar was not for me. And one day, there it was! Tea & Sympathy. As I looked through the windows into the tiny space that was packed with people, I said to my friend; Isn't that Rupert Everett! Indeed, it was. I always tend to eat the same dish; lamb shepherds pie, along with ginger beer and sticky toffee pudding, so I cannot comment on how great all the other dishes are there. But I am told they are equally as yummy.
When I bought this book I had Nicky Perry (owner & co-contributor to book) sign it for me. She will be delighted to sign yours, too if you drop by. They have a darling shop next door that sells incredible teapots and other British items you cannot find anywhere in New York City and beyond. I bought one of their cat teapots for my friend Ruth, and a cat teapot with a different design for me.
As if their incredible food and ambiance isn't enough, they have opened a fish and chips place next to the gift shop which they have named: A Salt & Battery. Aside from the various kinds of fish you can also ordered fried candy bars.
So the Perry's pretty much have all their bases covered. The cookbook is a treasure trove of British recipes. As the winter (2007)finally arrives in Manhattan, if you can't make it to Tea & Sympathy, you have the cookbook to create your own feel good dishes.
I highly recommend both book and boite. You simply can't go wrong.
Summary of Tea and Sympathy
In 1990 Nicola Perry, former tea lady at the London Stock Exchange, started living her dream. She found a storefront and opened Tea & Sympathy, an authentic amalgamation of English tea shop, mum's kitchen, and working man's café right in the heart of New York. Anita Naughton was one of her first waitresses, and from day one she kept an anecdotal record of the place, encapsulating the charm, flavor, and enigmatic patrons that are the atmosphere of the restaurant.Together they have created a colorful biography spanning the first decade of this landmark eatery: from the early days, when they kept their meager profits in a teapot, to nowadays, when they keep celebrities (British, American, or otherwise) waiting for a table along with everyone else. Complete with sixty recipes and photographs of food and popular visitors, this is a quintessential taste of England ready to take home.
In its original incarnation, Manhattan's Tea & Sympathy was a hole-in-the-wall outpost for British food and drink, authentic down to its steak and Guinness pie and bracing quantities of "cuppa." The place took off, attracting local and visiting celebrities as well as neighborhood regulars. Tea & Sympathy presents more than 60 recipes from the teashop, provided by its owner Nicola Perry, as well as a house chronicle, the work of ex-T&S waitress Anita Naughton. Though the recipes offer exemplary, easily done versions of such fare as bubble and squeak, kedgeree, and sticky toffee pudding, it's Naughton's saucy day-in-the-life narrative that makes the book a should-read. Whether relaying customer eccentricity ("Please help me get fat, only I don't have any money," wails a soon-to-be regular), general staff randiness (seeing a repairman lying captivatingly beneath a cappuccino machine, waitress Carol offers, "It might be easier if you take your trousers off"), celebrity sightings ("I carried the Dalai Lama's afternoon tea," says the author breathlessly), or the seat-of-the-pants business of the daily round ("Hangovers are now banned," posts owner Nicky in a staff memo to which one waitress replies, "Are you going to put it in the menu?"), Naughton's narrative is both hilarious and poignant, in ways that often catch the reader by surprise. Ultimately, she writes of being young and alone and trying to find a foothold in the big city, but she also offers "a happy ending"--her marriage to the restaurant's chef, "the sixth [one of us] so far" to have found and wedded a mate on the premises. With a detailed tea discussion and "family photo album" of almost the entire cast of characters, the book is a special culinary-literary spread, one that's in some ways even choicer than a Tea & Sympathy visit itself. --Arthur Boehm
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