Robert Irvine Loves Our Victoria Sponge Cake

Robert Irvine is a British celebrity chef and expat with a sweet tooth and a taste for delicious British cakes. He’s thankful to Tea & Sympathy for serving up a Victoria Sandwich Cake in New York City, “as good as it is back home.”

The camera crew for The Best Thing I Ever Ate came down to the restaurant, interviewed Nicky and tried our Victoria Sandwich, with delicious consequences. Thank You Robert Irvine!

Tea & Sympathy on the Food Network

We’ve previously blogged the recipe for our Victoria Sponge cake here, and you’ll also find it in our cookbook, which we sell in store. Our book makes the perfect Christmas gift, and Nicky will even sign copies now she’s such a big TV star!!!

Poppy Delevingne Checks Out Tea & Sympathy

British model, It Girl, and close friend of the royal family Poppy Delevingne has been in and around New York City for a while now. But she’ll always love a little slice of home life! She visited Tea & Sympathy for a photo shoot with stylish shopping website Lifestyle Mirror – and ended up dancing in the street with Sean.

Poppy Delevingne: Model Behavior

Few things make a New Yorker stop on the street. But on a brisk fall day in Greenwich Village, British model and actress Poppy Delevingne has the power to stop traffic.

Tall, fine-featured and with expertly mussed blonde hair, she’s all business during a photo shoot. She leans against a vintage London-style taxi in front of Anglophile tearoom and general store Tea and Sympathy. As music plays and trucks speed by, she dances in the street with a dapper gentleman as the camera clicks furiously. Deliverymen on bikes pause to gawk. A troupe of school children linger, pointing and clapping. Drivers honk.

“How painfully trendy of you!” her dance partner says teasingly as she takes a spin. Her face bursts into a laugh.

All the details on the shoot and the full interview can be found here.

British food takes Manhattan

We’re part of a movement here at Tea & Sympathy. Food and lifestyle journalist Katy Salter interviewed Nicky as an expat bringing the best of British food to Manhattan.

From lovefood.com

With Sean’s black cab sitting outside, and the interiors covered in nostalgic memorabilia, from regal teapots to signed photos of the EastEnders cast, this small block is New York’s own little Britain. ‘I don’t miss much about the UK,’ says Nicky ‘but I do miss M&S food. It’s the first place I go when I land at the airport – I love the lemon curd yoghurt and ham and mustard sandwiches.’ But neither can hold a candle to Nicky’s famous fluffy scones, served with proper clotted cream and jam. Her cream teas and other classic British dishes have won Tea and Sympathy legions of loyal regulars and celeb fans like Jake Gyllenhaal and Mila Kunis.

‘Americans think British food is mush and overcooked meat, and that just isn’t true’ says Nicky, who grew up in London and moved to New York in the early 80s. Rave reviews for Tea and Sympathy and Assault and Battery have helped changed those perceptions, as have the 1000s of cuppas poured by Tea and Sympathy’s British waitresses over the years. ‘I’ve single-handedly turned New Yorkers on to good tea,’ says Nicky, who hopes her new range of Tea and Sympathy teas will encourage even more Americans to enjoy the pleasures of a proper brew.

You can read the full piece here.

GO SEE: Stateside Spots for British Fare

The kind folk from the fantastic Laura Ashley Blog did a lovely post about their favorite English eating places in New York. Guess who was featured?! We love the photos and we’ll take their compliments about our food, but the interior design too? We’re in heaven!

The Great British Summer is coming to a close but not so are our cravings for English fare. Thankfully, a few stateside chums are satisfying our longings by catering to the tastes of home.

Our lunch favourite is Tea and Sympathy, where the menu of the traditional British kind defies any notion that the nation’s food is blasé and includes bangers ‘n mash, shepherd’s pie, welsh rarebit, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and more. The setting– a delightful interpretation of a quintessential English corner in the heart of Greenwich Village– is cosy and eclectic with an assortment of mismatched china for tea service that is just simply charming.

Founded by the able hands of south London native Nicky Perry, Tea & Sympathy serves up an ample British plate and cuppa for our homesick bellies.

Nicky Perry delights in her heritage and it’s seen in the details. Guests can pick up a British newspaper, browse the shop for take home teas, sweets, and gifts, or schedule a special delivery by way of an authentic London cab. Tea & Sympathy is a must try for all, especially culinary starved Brits.

You can read the full post here, along with more lovely photos.

Good eats: Tea & Sympathy

We always love to hear about your dining experiences at Tea & Sympathy. We found this account over at travelling website HT Blogger, and thought we’d share a few of their words and photos with you. Thanks guys!

For more than 20 years, owners Nicky Perry and Sean Kavanagh-Dowsett have provided New Yorkers and out-of-towners with the opportunity to enjoy a “proper cuppa” and traditional English fare. Once you set foot in this charming, authentic British café, you will be swiftly and happily transported to Dear Old Blighty. The atmosphere is intimate and cozy, the service impeccable, and all of the staff hail from the United Kingdom.

My recommendations? A proper bacon butty with HP brown sauce and of course, Tea & Sympathy’s famous scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream. As you may expect, there are a plethora of options for tea lovers, from black currant, to Chai, to my pick, Typhoo.

Tea & Sympathy also serves spot on bangers and mash, and the best treacle pudding this side of Tooting Broadway.

Guess we’d better add ‘treacle pudding from Tooting Broadway’ to our bucket list! You can read the full review here.

Tea & Sympathy on VH1’s Morning Buzz Live

Where do vh1 come when they want the lowdown on what’s best in Britain? One guess. Click here to find out.

Metro: A trip to New York’s Little Britain

Who saw this in yesterday’s NYC Metro? Welcome to Little Britain! Very proud of our little brother A Salt & Battery, and our good friends Myers of Keswick.

NBC 4: New Yorkers, Do as the Brits Do

Some kind words here from NBC4 – and some very good advice in the title. An excellent guide to all things British in NYC, featuring some of our very best friends (Myers of Keswick, we mean you!)

New Yorkers, Do as the Brits Do

Tap in to your inner anglophile and enjoy the tastes of England on this side of the pond, right here in New York City.

Tea & Sympathy
108 Greenwich Ave. / Greenwich Village
212-989-9735
Welsh rarebit, scotch egg, Shepherd’s pie, the’ve got it all at Tea & Sympathy, a quaint little English restaurant right in the heart of Greenwich Village. It’s been a neighborhood favorite for years.  On the weekends, they serve an authentic full English breakfast (or shall we say Sunday dinner), a rare find in New York City. Any New Yorker who knows what bubble and squeak is will truly appreciate this find. They don’t take reservations and the place is rather small, so get there early with your entire party. Can’t get enough? Stop on by the adjoining market for some treats to take home.

Read the rest here.

Emma Watson: Marmite and Tea & Sympathy

Are we all agreed that Emma Watson has impeccable taste? The Brit beauty’s face adorns Burberry ads around the world,  and her mantelpiece holds as many style awards, as movie ones. It seems that she knows her stuff when it comes to food as well, giving Marmite a shout out in Marie Claire earlier this year. And one guess where she buys it from…

Beauty Snoop: Emma Watson

Even the famously brainy Miss Watson can’t resist a good lipstick. Here, she conjures up her must-haves.

January 25, 2012 10:30 AM

Marmite

“I recently discovered Tea & Sympathy in New York, which does all things English, like Marmite and baked beans and whatnot. I go and stock up.”

CBS: NYC’s 16 Best Iced Coffee Drinks

It’s always nice to make a list – even more so when it’s one you’re not strictly meant to be on. So to have our iced tea featured is CBS New York’s ‘Best Iced Coffees‘ put a big smile on our face. And as the city begins to heat up, we’ll be making sure to that we brew to meet demand. If you’ve never tried a cup, let us tell you it is the finest iced drink this city has to offer – and far more refreshing than a coffee.

NYC’s 16 Best Iced Coffee Drinks

April 10, 2012 6:00 AM

The city that never sleeps runs on coffee.  Now well into springtime, some New Yorkers prefer their caffeine chilled. They turn in steaming cups of java for frosty mochas, frozen cappuccinos and iced lattes. Here are some of the city’s best places to quench your cold coffee cravings. by Sherry Mazzocchi….

Tea & Sympathy

108 Greenwich Ave.

New York, NY

(212) 989-9735

www.teaandsympathynewyork.com/

If you are tired of iced coffee, are you tired of life? No, just switch to Tea & Sympathy’s iced tea. Made with real tea leaves (not powders) and flavored with fresh fruits, mint leaves and other good things, they serve some of the most refreshing drinks in town.