COLUMN: As dining goes, this is my cup of tea

Remember when I wrote about Big Mama’s Soul Food Café on Carson Drive in Fort Walton? Mama told me that after the article was published, the place was slammed with customers for days, and she would run out of food before everyone was served. I hope this restaurant review will also elicit positive results, but without the drama.

I’m not a dining expert, nor a professional reviewer, but I know what I like. A few years ago, I had high tea at the famous Dorchester Hotel in London. It was elegant, formal, and completely divine. I will never forget the classical pianist, the excellent service, and the wonderful teas, finger sandwiches, scones, and sweets. I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I could die happy knowing I had reveled in such an enchanting experience.

When my friend Connie took me to lunch the other day, I was not expecting to find a lovely memory repeating itself. At The Glass Slipper Tea Cottage on 222 Staff Drive in Fort Walton, I felt immediately transported back to tea time in London.

The Cottage is open Wednesday through Friday from 11 to 4 and on Tuesday and Saturday by reservation only (at least 24 hours in advance and a minimum party of 10). Hours and reservation hours and reservation requirements are subject to change, especially around July or August. Actually, it’s not a bad idea to have reservations on any day, or you may be waiting out on the porch in one of their comfy rocking chairs. But I promise any wait is well worth it.

The place is easy to find. Just turn right at McDonald’s on Eglin Parkway, and you’ll find it at the intersection of Hospital Drive and Staff Drive. You may not recognize this lovely little tea room as the former American Heart Association Building. It’s been delightfully transformed just as Cinderella among the ashes became transformed by glass slippers and a prince.

Opening last St. Patrick’s Day with a special green tea, the owners Jim and Shirley Simpson, along with Shirley’s sister Carolyn Chandler, have seen their dream of a tea cottage become a dream fulfilled. It’s a place of peace and beauty, a place of crocheted placemats, lace napkins, soft voices, classical music, and the fragrance of roses at each table. The teas and food items are served on delicate china and delivered on a lace-draped cart. It’s also a place where a customer can dress casually or dress to the nines in white gloves, pearls, and an outrageous hat. And the kind of place that if you take your mother-in-law there, she will be so impressed with your good taste, she may even stop criticizing you about your ill-mannered kids.

The three family members have all contributed their special skills to make The Glass Slipper a success. Jim (Shirley calls him Prince Jim) is the computer expert, builder of the charming picket fence, and waiter. He’s also a munitions expert, but doesn’t seem to need that skill for serving tea and scones. Carolyn is the cook, kitchen manager, menu planner, and decorator; and Shirley, a retired Air Force nurse, is the mover and shaker, preparing the tea and managing the business.

But all three pitch in to make it a seamless operation.

The menu, which is surprising reasonable, features a lunch served as a “traditional tea” or a lighter version. There are also salads, sandwiches, ala carte items, and more special teas than I ever knew existed. There’s a children’s menu as well with their own little pot of tea, fruit punch, or hot chocolate. I had a sampler of finger sandwiches, two scones with lemon curd and clotted cream, and a pot of mango tea.

And unlike the two hundred Euros I paid at the Dorchester Hotel, my bill was under thirteen dollars.

Believing that no dream is ever realized without the support of friends, family, and fellow church members at First Baptist in Fort Walton, Jim, Shirley, and Carolyn modestly give more credit to others than to themselves. And just like Big Mama did, they give the highest praise of all to the One who blessed and strengthened them from the first flash of inspiration to opening day when customers discovered what a treasure lay inside the Glass Slipper Tea Cottage. Their testimony to His benevolence is inscribed on the wall above the dining room: “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control.”

Be good to yourself and give them a try, but call me first and invite me along.

Mary Ready of Destin is a twice-retired English teacher and long-time area resident. Her columns are published on Saturdays.