One of the most common questions I am asked in interviews is why I think afternoon tea is surging in popularity today, notably amongst young adults. I answer that they want a moment to step back in time, to feel a part of the customs practiced by their elders and ancestors. As the first generation raised on screens, they want a taste of their parents’ 20th century good times, in analog.
Tea lovers of all ages will tell you that they love the slowed pace of steeping and sipping tea. We connect, we remember, over a shared pot of tea. That’s the meaning behind the Irish phrase, “swing the teapot,” which calls for the pot to be passed around the table. Which brings us to our Floral Park tea find: Irish eatery Swing the Teapot, serving Irish and American fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a wide tea selection, and baked goods from nearby Tulip Bakery. You can be sure we double-checked whether they might consider an afternoon tea service in future (they certainly have the teaware collection for it), but alas, their lunch crowd almost runs straight through to their dinner service.
Special thanks to Aunt Mary and Aunt Annette for choosing this charming lunch spot, which has three rooms full of tea paraphernalia, including some of the most fun teapots we’ve seen. We were delighted to be greeted by this solemn teapot maître d (above).
Teapots of all shapes, sizes and designs decorate Swing the Teapot.
The restaurant has three long rooms, making it perfect for larger private parties, and they also host events and live music. The brightly lit room (below) is contrasted with more of a pub feel in the connecting rooms.
You’ll appreciate the large teapot collection here, at the ready for tea orders. Upon closer inspection, we discovered a tea cocktail on special.
The perfect companion to our tasty sandwiches, Swingin’ Tea is made from unsweetened house blend iced tea with freshly squeezed lemonade and a nip of vodka – delicious!
After lunch, it was time to explore this vast tea selection! As always, we appreciate the provided descriptions, and agreed to try the Dark Chocolate Oolong Tea.
One of the joys of teatime is when the beautiful china is brought out. We debated whose cup was the table favorite, and I wondered if the pot was initially designed for tea, hot chocolate or coffee. I landed on coffee because it’s tall with a tall spout. Still beautiful.
Tea for three allowed us to each have about a cup and a half, and yes, we could taste the chocolate. Yummy!
These raisin scones from local shop Tulip Bakery were nearer the consistency of an Irish soda bread, and served with butter. Large enough to share, we found them to be a savory, dense bite, and loved that they were fresh baked.
We know several cat and tea lovers who would appreciate this teapot.
We love this definition of “dangerous” tea-goers, celebrating the centuries-old joys of taking tea together.
In fact, on this trip to Long Island, I was stepping back into my own timeline, where I had been a college student living with my grandmother in Floral Park for the summer I interned in New York City. Once a childhood scene of Christmas dinner parties with seemingly endless courses, and summer barbecues where we toured her garden, my grandmother’s home finally became the place I learned who my grandmother was. It’s where, for a summer, we debated our views on life, she corrected my sewing, we watched Agatha Christie murder mysteries, and she greeted me with breakfast and lunch at the ready every morning before I went into the city. My grandmother was someone I would have loved to invite to tea. There would have been no shortage of real conversation, she spoke her mind! As I shared a pot of tea with her daughters at Swing the Teapot, laughing and learning from my aunts, I felt perhaps she was with us after all.
It’s a strange age, 47. I actually time travel all the time. In my far away childhood memories that are suddenly recalled brightly and strongly. Or finding myself in a wrinkle in time, juxtaposing myself the middle-aged mother with my mother the middle-aged mother. Realizing that when I was the college student staying with my father’s mother in Floral Park, my parents were my age. Now they are the grandparents who host my children, for holidays, when we tour NYC, when my eldest needs time with them, a break from her college studies. Time keeps rolling along, and rolling us up in its momentum, though we try and hold on to our favorite people and moments.
Above, my Aunt Rosanne (you might recognize her from our Bayard Cutting Arboretum review) holds me, and my mother holds my brother in my grandparents’ Floral Park yard, circa 1980.
We stopped by Grandma’s house in Floral Park, observing all the changes at the house where we ultimately said goodbye to our matriarch. Now a new young family builds their memories here. And although it’s not as easy to get everyone together as it was when everyone was young and living close by, trips like these are so important to the fabric of our family. Being together with my aunts and uncles on this trip home was a gift. If there are loved ones you haven’t seen in too long, don’t wait! And perhaps when you gather again, as everyone is catching up and basking in each other’s good energy, you just might have occasion to ask someone to “swing the teapot.”
