Tea with Mrs. B

 

 

Saturday I spent a divine two hours with my very best friend at Mrs. B’s Special Teas and Lavender Rose Tea Room in Lebanon, Oregon.  It had been over a year since Nikki and I had been to tea and it had been even longer since we’d been to a place this lovely.  For those as geographically challenged as I, Lebanon is near to Corvallis, home of OSU.

It had been a long time since we’d gone to tea and longer still since we’d been somewhere truly nice. The night before we’d done our homework by reading about Mrs. B’s in two different books Nikki has about tea rooms in the Pacific Northwest.  One book said to be sure to go early as the gift shop was lovely and we took their advice.  They were right.  I found a birthday card for my friend Ada and a box of raspberry tea for my daughter Amy. 

Mrs. B is Barbara Brown and is definitely what is “special” about her teas.  This sweet little lady is the owner, cook, and hostess of Mrs. B’s and a delight.  At 73 she does all of the cooking and most of the serving.  But she doesn’t do computers so don’t look for a website. For the Queen or Royal Teas you need to call ahead for reservations, but Mrs. B seems to do a decent trade in lunches which don’t require phoning ahead.  Mrs. B's is located at 55 West Grant Street in Lebanon, Oregon.  You can call for a reservation at 541-259-5100.

High tea requires time so don’t think you’re going to do that and go to a movie.  Our plans did not require a schedule so we were able to enjoy the tea, each other and Mrs. B over the course of two hours.

We had the Victorian Queen’s tea and each course was heavenly from the fruit with poppy seed dressing to the peach sorbet at the end.  Who knew that egg salad sandwiches garnished with nasturtiums could be so good?  Of course there were also cucumber, chicken-almond, and savories.  Warm lavender scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserves went well with our pot of lavender-vanilla tea.  I liked the tea so well that I bought some to drink this summer if I get some guests in Ilwaco.  The dessert plate included lemon bars, chocolate cake, and strawberry tarts. 

There was something we’d seen in their pastry case when we came in that did not appear on the dessert plate—lavender almond cake.  That was easily remedied by getting two slices to take home so we could savor our relaxing day some more back at Nikki’s house in Mt. Angel.