My favorite things about the tea room:
1 - That it has been preserved and is part of the Indiana State Museum. The setting is fabulous, nested within the museum that borders the canal in White River State Park with fabulous views of downtown.
2 - The L.S. Ayres Tea Room, Recipes & Recollections book. This clever book blends history, recipes and photos together into a fabulous resource. I have found it very valuable in learning about my state's past. (Note: The book features historical cafe recipes, many of which could be adopted for a tea party, but it is not a "tea party" cookbook.)
Isn't this clever?! That view outside the window is a reproduction of what you would have seen - it's not real!
The tea room today. The chairs and tables are original.
The food
If you go, steep yourself in the historical significance and the ambiance. The food was tasty, but not the best I've had, and the tea was Bigelow bags. But the fact that someone thought to preserve the concept of this space, and what it meant to Indianapolis, is worth its weight in tea!
What a forward-thinking/backward-thinking thing for a city to do! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThe downtown skyline looks beautiful! And if the L.S. Ayres people are smart, they'll hire a certain well-educated, semi-local tea lover (hint, hint) to be their tea consultant! I'm glad you could appreciate the experience, and if I'm ever in the neighborhood, let's definitely try to be "ladies who lunch!"
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add a thank-you for supplying us with all the photos! It's so nice to go somewhere and have an idea of what's in store!
ReplyDeleteAhhh, your post makes me miss our local downtown tearoom. It was THE place to have tea or lunch when I was a little girl. I always felt so grown up there.
ReplyDeleteI had the privilege of going with a woman who had visited the original tea room as a high school student. It was fun to hear her stories!
ReplyDeleteHi Steph,Remember me?I talked to you a while ago about your trip to London with denise.I remember the real Ayres tearoom well.I use to take my youngest daughter there for a special treat.She was picked at an audition for a big full page ad for the Ayres Hare.A big stuffed rabbit they were selling for easter.She was standing in the middle of a huge number of them and holding as many as she could in her arms.I loved the real tearoom and took my 2 year old grandaughter the last day they were opened.The line was sooo long.Now there's no tearoom or L. S. Ayres either.How sad.I think I'll always miss the Ayres downtown store along with many others.The tearoom at the museum just isn't the same.I was so excited for them to open it but was so disappointed. Sandi
ReplyDeleteHi, Sandi! Good to hear from you! Thank you for sharing your story, too!
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Miss Millie Coleman lectures and writes on a famous tearoom in Atlanta and the history of tearooms (and women) in the U.S. Fascinating stuff! So glad you got to visit.
ReplyDeleteI have such fond memories of the L.S. Ayres tea room here in my hometown.
ReplyDeleteI went there as a young girl and I took my daughter there when she was tiny.
Both L. S. Ayres and the other very upscale department store in our area had tea rooms. I miss them.
That is so cool! I remember shopping at L.S. Ayers.
ReplyDeleteI was looking up L. S. Ayers on the web today. I have very fond memories of going to lunch in the Tea Room in the Ayers Store at the Glenbrook Mall in Ft. Wayne, IN with my mom.
ReplyDeleteI posted a link to your blog on Facebook for my friends to see. Thank you for being so thoughtful and making the Art of Tea a feast for the eyes on you blog. Susan Meek
I use to go to the tearoom with my grandmother and I remember somehow she got recipe for their wonderful dry turkey dressing. I want that recipe so bad! Anyone out there have that recipe?? It was the best dressing you will ever taste.
ReplyDeleteI remember going to the L.S. Tea Room with my great grandmother almost every Saturday. She and I would ride the bus downtown and she would have her hair "washed and set" for church the next day. If I was good while her hair was done we would eat at the tea room. I would always get the chicken velvet soup, a little peoples hobo lunch, and if I was really good a clown sundae. It was so special to be "grown-up" enough to eat there (I was 7 when the doors closed). I took her to eat at the museum when it opened and she loved it. Now she's gone and I take my three younger sisters to share the tradition. It's almost like Grandma is there as I teach them the manners she required to eat at the tea room.
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