by Anita Naughton, with Nicola Perry

Putnam, November, 2002.
Hardcover, 195 pages.
ISBN: 0399149376

In 1990 a young woman named Nicola Perry took the plunge and moved to New York from London to open an authentic British tea shop. Waitress Anita Naughton kept a record of the little tea shop's slow ride to celebrity-studded success. David Bowie celebrated his 50th birthday party there, and everyone from Rupert Everett to Naomi Campbell, Judi Dench, Anna Sui and Quentin Tarantino stop by for lunch or tea.

Perry and Naughton treat readers to over sixty of the restaurant's most popular recipes, such as Yorkshire Pudding, Tea & Sympathy Scones, Tweed Kettle Pie, Shepard's Pie, Treacle Pudding, Sticky Toffee Pudding and, of course, a proper cup of tea. In addition to the marvelous recipes which showcase good English cooking, the book tells the story of the people who have made the restaurant a success. Told in chatty, moving and sometimes hilarious style, the stories of the friends and patrons of the tea house involve friendship, love, loss and triumph over adversity. Also included are photographs illustrating the life, times, and visitors to the establishment. This is truly a entertaining little gem of a book, which functions equally well as a cookbook or a delightfully comic memoir.

Tea & Sympathy is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the December - January, 2003 of The Internet Writing Journal.

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