Silver Tips Tea

WESTCHESTER MAGAZINE
Best of Westchester 2008
Voted "Best Tea Shop"
Readers' Picks

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The Hudson Independent

Linda Viertel, Summer 2007

"Afternoon Tea Served All Day" greets diners on the menu of Silver Tips Tea Room, the welcoming destination restaurant in Tarrytown owned by Anupa Mueller. Customers know that the finest teas, sandwiches, wraps and fresh soups prepared daily will be available every time they visit the handsome, roomy tea room....The menu suggests afternoon and evening tea blends, jasmine teas and fruit tisanes, which are fruits, herbs and edible plants infused in boiled water....The 21-page menu lures tea drinkers to try a vast array of unusual offerings beyond the chais, chamomiles, peppermint teas and Earl Greys.

What is most unusual about Silver Tips is Mueller's mission to educate her customers about tea, and her well-trained staff has the education and passion to do just that....But having a perfect cup of tea isn't the only reason customers keep coming back to Silver Tips. A repertoire of more than 40 soups are prepared from scratch so that no offering is repeated in any month. Mueller's Culinary Institute-trained manager will describe how healthy and unique these soups are, always seasonally prepared, and often brimming with fresh vegetables, beans or barley.

Desserts are classy: fruit tarts, individual mousses or delectable slices of carrot cake. And, who can resist English clotted cream and presrves or creme fraiche with blueberry, raisin or cranberry scones? Not to mention tea lemonades, tea spritzers and daily iced teas for the summer months. In addition it's hard to choose which of the 12 smoothies to enjoy...

Among the many "extras" at Silver Tips are a catering menu, which describes beautifully prepared platters, savories and sweets. Frequent guest cards are available for repeat visitors with a $15 credit available after multiple visits. Silver Tips also offers a popular Tea of the Month Club membership, which provides five types of teas to choose from, delivered to your door, complemented by a free teapot and tea canister...

"There's a fina balance between creating a fine cup of tea and running a restaurant," Mueller said. It is an accurate statement, as is the sentiment found on the menu: "Silver Tips Tea....every visit a treat."

Anitra Brown
Hudson Valley Magazine, February 2005

"If you're the sort of person who has already mastered fine wine and is ready to move on to new territory, then Silver Tips is ready for you. "We're very serious about tea," says Anupa Mueller, who opened Silver Tips in the center of Tarrytown five years ago.

How serious? Well, she sells 140 kinds of tea, packed in large green tins stacked against the back wall of her cheerful, yellow shop. Popping open a tin, she'll dig up a scoopful so that you can see the full curled leaf of Keemun Mao Feng or smell the aromatic fragrance of Indian Chai, a spiced tea flavored with cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and vanilla....

Mueller opened the tearoom because she wanted to share her passion for tea with one person at a time. "Our mission is to pour you a perfect cup of tea, every time." Her staff makes each pot at the counter, using an English Chatsford pot and a timer. When the leaves have steeped the perfect amount of time - anywhere from two to five minutes, depending on the tea - the leaves are pulled. A pot is delivered and you can enjoy the first cup without worrying that by the time you get to the next, the tea will be oversteeped and lukewarm...

Silver Tips has a nice selection of sandwiches, soups, wraps, salads, and even samosas, the traditional tea-time treat in India. The blueberry scones are spectacular - soft and doughy on the inside, crisp on the outside...."My food is very good, but my tea is excellent, " says Mueller. "People come back for the tea."

Elizabeth Johnson
The Journal News, January 25, 2003

"Gunpowder green. Ginger peach. Golden needle. No - not paint shades from Ralph Lauren. Tea. Varieties of tea on the menu at the Silver Tips Tea Room in Tarrytown.

There are more than 120 kinds in all, from black to green and oolong to flavored, with white, herbal and house blends thrown in for good measure.

One would think such a menu would draw the most discerning of tea drinkers. And it does. Last Friday's lunch found six customers working their way through the entire menu - some even taking notes as they went.

But Silver Tips also attracts people swinging by for a cuppa to go, or stopping for lunch with friends.... With 22 seats at wooden tables covered with dark-green tablecloths, pale-yellow walls decorated with art from Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow Arts Council artists, and a collection of teapots and teacups for sale (including some with not-so-typical looks like leopard and brushed stainless steel), Silver Tips is inviting. But it is not your grandmother's tearoom. It is not the Plaza. And it is not - repeat not - Victorian.

People use Silver Tips as a retail outlet, too. They'll stop by to refill canisters from the selection of loose teas, neatly lined in numbered green tins on bookshelves along the shop's north wall..... People go to Silver Tips for different reasons, but manager Haynes says the underlying reason is to relax. "We want to make it as friendly and relaxing an atmosphere as we can," she says. "And make them feel welcome."

Andrea Kurtz

Westchester County Times, December 2002

"When you enter the Silver Tips Tea Room in Tarrytown, you experience the cozy ambience of a neighborhood meeting place. In the soothing, sophisticated and slightly funky atmosphere that marks successful Rivertown establishments, you feel cosseted in a place that is distinctly and pleasurably local….A dazzling assortment of over 125 loose leaf teas from around the world is sold here….In a large room flanked by tea accessories, memorabilia and wooden tea chests, lunch is served and “afternoon tea” is offered all day….In a nod to English tradition, floral tea cozies warm each pot and scones with cream and preserves are offered….In addition there is a fusion cuisine of soups, salads and sandwiches.”

Lois Podoshen

Westchester Magazine, December 2002

“The menu comes with a tea handbook so comprehensive, it will please everyone from the tea novice to the tea connoisseur. It explains how to steep tea like an expert (never microwave the water), and describes each tea variety, its country of origin, and even whether or not you should add milk: yes, for most black teas, but not recommended for green or oolong teas, and as for herbals, no!”

Half Moon Press, November 2000

“You have to go a long way in this country to find the equivalent of a real scone – originally a British delicacy, which is a treat when served warm and a little bit squishy with clotted cream or butter and preserves…

Now, the new Silver Tips Tea Room in Tarrytown comes very close. The scones have just the right texture and flavor, although they come in an “American” size as opposed to a British scale…

The food is not confined to scones. There are distinctive sandwiches, soups, salads, samosas and luscious desserts…

Silver Tips is rapidly becoming a meeting place for professionals, couples of all ages, college students and school teachers – all throughout the day….

The tea room is available for meetings and parties up to 20; bridal and baby showers; catering and theme parties…One corner contains a selection of tea paraphernalia for sale – teapots, cups and saucers in an amazing variety of styles…

Silver Tips, Tarrytown, may be a long way from Darjeeling, but it echoes the rituals and civility associated with that part of the world.”

New York Times, April 9, 2000

“Of the several tearooms currently enjoying popularity, perhaps the most serious is the Silver Tips Tea Room in Tarrytown…On hand is a list with extremely helpful descriptions and suggestions for drinking. Iced teas and juice spritzers are also available as the weather warms.

At Silver Tips, afternoon tea ($15) is generous: two large, fully packed toasted sandwiches with greens, two mighty scones with thick cream and preserves, cookies and slices of cake…come with the pot of tea – your choice from the 120.

Our favorite sandwich fillings here were Tarry barbecue chicken and Egg Souchong, in which eggs marinated in smoked tea were mixed with a chive spread…All afternoon tea items can be ordered separately, as well as vegetable samosas, salads and soup of the day.”