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Becky & Jessica welcome you to The Kate Pearl Tea Room at Gypsy’s

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Before we introduce ourselves to the tea community, we want to pause for a moment, and raise our teacups to Mrs. Gypsy Jo Fleck, to honor her 21 years as the owner of the finest tea room in Maryland, Gypsy’s Tearoom.  We cannot begin to express our gratitude for this opportunity to own and operate the wonderful tea room she has built from the ground up.  We are thankful for her mentorship as we transition from Gypsy’s Tearoom to The Kate Pearl Tea Room at Gypsy’s.

We welcome each of you to the tea room and we want to answer some frequently-asked questions about our vision for the future of the tea room:

When is your grand opening?  We are planning our grand opening for October 1, 2018.  We’ll use August & September to poke through every closet, drawer, and attic in the tea room, to inventory what we have on hand, to refresh the rooms, to build relationships with our staff, and to plan a wonderful event for the tea community.  We’ll post here on the website when we have more details.

Who is Kate Pearl?  The Kate Pearl Tea Room is named in honor of our great-great grandmother, Kate Pearl.  She was quite the lady – and would never even think about leaving her home unless she was well-equipped with stockings & heels, her hat, gloves, & purse, and – of course – her pearls.

Is the tea room going to change?  We see afternoon tea as a way to connect generations, to honor traditions, and to find respite from the chaos of everyday life.  A tea room is a place to unwind.  To be pampered.  To luxuriate in finery.  We think Gypsy has a wonderful tea room and we plan to continue in the same manner.  You will see some changes… but they are good changes that are in-line with our general philosophy of what afternoon tea truly should be.

Is the menu changing?  Yes, but just a little bit.  Gypsy and her husband Joe, advised us that it is time to change menu prices, as the last adjustment was made over five years ago.  While we are tweaking the prices, we are also slightly changing the menu to make it our own.  We will be retiring the Traveler’s Tea and adding in Kate’s Tea.  Kate’s Tea is a menu option for walk-in’s (assuming there is an open table) which includes a bottomless pot of tea, soup & salad, and a scone with jam & clotted cream.

Are you accepting walk-in’s?  If we have an empty table, we will absolutely seat a walk-in party, but your menu choices will be limited.  Our kitchen prepares the sandwiches and desserts early each morning for the number of reservations we have in a given day.  We insist that your afternoon tea selections are as fresh and sumptuous as they can be!  So our walk-in’s are welcome to try Kate’s Tea, the Savory Tea, the Parfait Tea, or the Cream Tea.  If what you really want is an afternoon tea, with tea sandwiches and desserts – you need to make a reservation at least a day in advance.

Will you still have a gift shop?  Yes!  Of course!  And there will be some wonderful new additions!

Are you still going to have special afternoon teas, like Christmas, and Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day?  Yes, we are!  We are still building our calendar for the year, and choosing themes for these teas.  After we really get our feet underneath us, we will be adding special teas throughout the entire year.  We love themed teas!

When will you start taking reservations for Christmas Teas?  We understand that the Christmas Afternoon Teas are a very special tradition for many of our guests at the tea room!  We will begin taking reservations on November 1.  The theme this year is The Nutcracker Ballet.  You will not be disappointed!!!

Will you open on Mondays?  We have absolutely considered that!  Give us a few months to settle in, and we’ll let you know!

Will you continue with the charities that Gypsy’s Tearoom supported?  We will be continuing with most of them, and adding in a few of our own.

We want to thank you for your support of the tea room and of Gypsy, as she retires.  We are going to give the tea room 110% of our heart & soul.  We welcome you to call and make a reservation, and please introduce yourself to us when you come in!  You’ll find Jessica in the kitchen, and Becky in the front – and you’ll certainly run across a few more new faces around the tea room, although just about all of Gypsy’s staff will be continuing on with us.  Thank you for your patience with us as we wrestle with the challenges of transferring ownership of a business – like Comcast cutting our phone lines for a few days and the training of additional servers.  It’ll all settle down in a bit….

The Kate Pearl Tea Room at Gypsy’s is open and ready to serve you!  Thank you so much for your support!

Warmly,

Becky & Jessica

 

 

3 Responses

  1. Colette Crandall
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    So so excited for you two! Can’t wait to make a reservation and enjoy a special tea! Colette (and Craig) 😊

  2. Shirley richards
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    I love Gypsy’s and am a frequent patron. I am sad that Gypsie is retiring and will miss her, but am excited to see new faces.

  3. Mom
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    Your dreams do come true!