The Tea Kettle Cafe in Old Town Spring is owned and operated by the husband and wife duo of Richard and Kari Dangler. On a recent rainy afternoon I visited for my first sample of this delightful place.
“I was in oil and gas,” said Richard, “but back in 2016 the bottom fell out. So I acquired this, which was a tea retail place. I brought in some of my friends from Wales and Leeds: they said this would make a perfect tearoom. They got it up and going. We started getting baby showers, bridal showers, birthday parties – the whole nine yards.”
When Covid hit Richard went back into oil and gas. “My wife, a teacher, would come home in tears because it wasn’t teaching anymore. So I suggested she take over the tearoom, and she doubled the revenue. Now we also have a little wine bar in the back, the Mad Hatter, and we recently began offering dinner.” Seasonal events include one in October where they have Harry Potter-themed events. Kari even dresses up like a wizard! Richard and Kari are pictured here in a room with a ‘chandelier’ of white petals seemingly growing from a tree painted on the wall.
The Café also features live music. A recent performer was Rick Marcel, currently guitarist for the group Kool and the Gang. A generous outdoor patio area is typically filled to capacity on weekends: the ideal merger of music, food and drink.
Rebecca Steele of Houston did the whimsical wall murals, largely based on Alice in Wonderland themes (lead photo). They are bold, colourful, and absolutely set this Café apart from any other tearoom in Texas. A sheer delight!
The High Tea menu, served on a traditional tiered tray, consists of five sandwiches, scones, and assorted desserts (see photo). The current offering is a turkey pesto on a multi-grain bread; tuna salad with cream cheese and roasted red peppers; cucumber cream cheese and dill on white bread; egg salad with paprika and chives; and chicken salad with grapes and toasted pistachios. I found each one to be delicious and prepared to the high standard one would expect from a tearoom.
The teas on offer are also available for sale in the shopfront. Their signature tea is ‘Old Town Spice’, sold in bags of 4 oz for $12 and 16 oz for $44. It combines orange, cinnamon and cloves to deliver a high-caffeine punch. While it is enjoyed year-round, the tea is especially popular around Christmas-time. My partner for the day likes very few teas. “I’m very discriminating and I liked it,” was the judgment.
I had two favs. First ‘Bibliophilia’. Kari said it was a big hit at a recent gathering of a book club here! The tea has “inviting classics of blackberry & sage, that luminate with cozy hints of vanilla & marshmallow.” My other fav is ‘Daydreamer’, a combination of traditional Earl Grey with passion fruit & lavender, with hints of rose.
There are close to 30 teas on the menu (including 5 green ones such as ‘Persephone’, “a bittersweet love of pomegranate, spring petals and icy peppermint.”) Others include an Oolong dubbed ‘Butterbeer’; ‘Silk ribbon,’ with both rose petals and rose buds, and ‘Nocturnal notes’ where “masala chai spices flirt with lush notes of blackberry & currant, cinnamon, ginger root, and cardamom.”
The dinner menu includes shrimp with pasta blackened by squid ink; braised short ribs with mashed potatoes and thin asparagus; and seabass in a chickpea marinade. I tried the latter two, and both were very tasty, cooked just right.
The owners generously served us their most popular dinner appetizer, barra gallega. This bread comes direct from the ovens in Galicia, Spain, ready for its final prep here at the Tea Kettle. It’s served on a board together with a wooden bowl filled with extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, sea flakes, and rosemary grown in the gardens of the tearoom (see photo). Dip a slice into the bowl: with its crisp crust and light, airy, open crumb, you are in bread heaven.
I look forward to returning to try some other appetizers: crab coquettes, beef empanadas, and croquettes with shrimp & cheese. Desserts include bread pudding, macarons, and cheesecake.
This friendly and welcoming tearoom should be on your menu!
The Tea Kettle Cafe is located at 123 Midway St in Old Town Spring, just north of Houston.
The Cafe welcomes walk-ins, but most weekends it is fully booked in advance. Consult their website:
The work of the mural artist can be seen at her website:
www.rebeccasteelestudio.com