Customer Reviews

Tea and Sympathy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is far more than a cookbook -- in fact, calling it a cookbook is like calling 'Moby Dick' a fishing story. Every recipe is preluded by a hilarious anecdotal story about the author's life in New York as a waitress trying to 'make it,' and these tales create a marvelously entertaining narrative thread. The vignettes of customers are wickedly funny -- Naughton has an eye for skewering the pretentions of New Yorkers, both native and Anglo. Many of the tales are delightfully ribald -- a cross between Seinfeld and Sex and the City. A great present for the Christmas season -- the recipes suit the weather, and the stories are worth reading aloud on the long winter nights!

I have been going to Tea & Sympathy for almost as long as it has been open and this book really captures the feel of the place. Aside from all of the recipes I have been dying to have for years, I now feel privy to the repartee I always knew existed between the people who work there. What a joy! Now I can make the English food I have come to love myself AND when I go to the shop I am in the loop! If you have never been to T&S this is certainly the next best thing.

As a regular customer of "Tea & Sympathy" I found it a great joy to get behind the scenes and find out what really goes on in the tiny space which I have grown to love so much. The story told by author Anita Naughton is always full of enjoyable stories and comical situations that the girls frequently find themselves in.
The recipes that Nicola Perry has at long last revealaed are easy to follow and produce great results.

All in all a great idea for any Anglophile or budding Jamie Oliver.

Having lived in London in the late 60s and early 70s, I was surprised to find there were no real authentic British restaurants in New York City. I am not a Pub person, so sitting alone with a pint in some dark-wooded, beer-smelling bar was not for me. And one day, there it was! Tea & Sympathy. As I looked through the windows into the tiny space that was packed with people, I said to my friend; Isn't that Rupert Everett! Indeed, it was. I always tend to eat the same dish; lamb shepherds pie, along with ginger beer and sticky toffee pudding, so I cannot comment on how great all the other dishes are there. But I am told they are equally as yummy.

When I bought this book I had Nicky Perry (owner & co-contributor to book) sign it for me. She will be delighted to sign yours, too if you drop by. They have a darling shop next door that sells incredible teapots and other British items you cannot find anywhere in New York City and beyond. I bought one of their cat teapots for my friend Ruth, and a cat teapot with a different design for me.

As if their incredible food and ambiance isn't enough, they have opened a fish and chips place next to the gift shop which they have named: A Salt & Battery. Aside from the various kinds of fish you can also ordered fried candy bars.

So the Perry's pretty much have all their bases covered. The cookbook is a treasure trove of British recipes. As the winter (2007)finally arrives in Manhattan, if you can't make it to Tea & Sympathy, you have the cookbook to create your own feel good dishes.

I highly recommend both book and boite. You simply can't go wrong.

This book is suitable for a relatively small group of folks who perhaps have been to this shop and would like to know the story of the people who work there. The amount of recipes in this book is very small compared to the amount of pages devoted to the people who own/work/etc. in the shop. If you're looking for tea-related recipes, look elsewhere.

I really like this book, not only for the yummy recipes but for the slice of life it portrays. I'm a Brit too & liked the idea of having a little embassy that feeds you too in NYC. I've tried several of the recipes & they all turned out well.

This is mostly a book of anecdotes, which didn't really capture me - it's not that I wasn't interested, it was just that I was more interested in the recipes. As a Brit living in New York I was curious to see how these traditional recipes translated for Americans. However, I have been consistently disappointed. The directions are often lacking the necessary detail (how many cornish pasties will the recipe make for example?). The ratios seem off on a number of the recipes which leads to too much filling/topping etc or simply too much food in general (how much Coronation Chicken can one eat before it goes bad?!). Finally, the results are often on the bland side (I know what you are thinking... it's British! I am too, and what I was looking for was a slice of home).

Buy this book if you are fascinated by the teashop and it's background, but be warned that reading it I often got the sense that it was far more fun to write than it is to read - more for the people involved than anyone else. Somehow you still felt like you were peering in the window even though you had been invited inside.

Do not buy this book if you want traditional British recipes. I am sure there are better ones out there.

I've been a repeat customer of the retail business so I know what the real thing tastes like so I am AMAZED and so happy that the owner deigned to share her recipes in this book. There really is only one place in all of New York City like this and that's hard to believe given how much hype about NYC there is.

Anyway, as a native New Yorker, I don't like paying too much when I eat out but the menu at Tea and Sympathy is so Just Right that it is very easy to eat there everyday even though the fare is simple. Well, I don't use these recipes as frequently as I would like but because I have confirmed that the recipes recreate the real thing, I can confidently recommend this book.

I'm usually not a fan of tea and cupcake recipe books but because this is basically a how to of an actual menu, I feel differently about this recipe book.

There should be one in every city and they should all be (wait)staffed by young English people even if Meeheecans are manning the kitchen. This place is so authentic and really promotes English style: straightforward, simple but indulgent and delicious.

This was one of the oddest cook books I've ever read. The recipes are probably good, but the information about the daily life at the restaurant didn't interest me at all. I'm not a New Yorker and after reading the text, that reads more like the author's journal, I'm glad I don't live in there. Very smarmy.
Tea...not bad recipes
Sympathy...none at all.

tea and sympathy is my favorite place to eat in new york. when i saw they had a cookbook i was thrilled and evneutally i got a copy.
lilke what most others have been saying, this is something that if you like the shop, the restraunt, then you'll like the book. it gives some of the behind the scenes going on of the book, the stories and people that work there, or frequent it.
This is not primarily a cookbook. It does have recipes in it. But it's primary purpose does not seem to be just recipes. It splits it between the behind the scenes and the recipes. Just be prepared.
I have not made it through the recipes yet, so i can't vouch for them. but they look delicious.
if you don't care about the shop, then don't get this book. you'll probably do better with another english tea shop or british cookbook. maybe tea at the ritz?