Tea Time at the Dollhouse Tearoom

Stepping inside the Dollhouse Tearoom is a bit like passing through a looking glass into a wonderland of tea cups and vintage decor. On the back wall above the service counter, a neon pink sign hangs glowing on the wall, ‘Tea Time,’ it reads. Clocks and mirrors are everywhere, along with floral accent walls and fantastical art featuring rabbits, foxes and other woodland creatures. It’s a whimsical garden where the Mad Hatter might find himself surrounded by friends nibbling on fresh scones slathered in homemade clotted cream and jam.

Owner Carol Wafer spent years going to high tea services worldwide, dreaming of owning her own tea house one day. 

“We bought a Victorian house over on Mountain street where we were going to have the tearoom,” Wafer said. “We got zoned and everything for it, but when we realized all the changes we would have to make to the house to make it ADA compliant and just accessible in general –– and put in a professional kitchen –– we realized we would be ruining the house.” 

Realizing the location was wrong was the first setback Wafer encountered. Then the pandemic happened –– another setback. A waiting game began that would last three years. Finally, on October 1, 2022, the Dollhouse Tearoom opened downtown inviting Seguin to experience something new. 

It’s more a lounge than a restaurant decked in vibrant colors and garden whimsy. Victorian couches re-upholstered locally at Keepers in pink and teal zebra fabric from UK designer Emma J. Shipley are a particularly eye-catching feature. While most of the chairs and tables don’t match, the tea sets do, tying all of it together and forming an environment that General Manager Sarah Green loves sharing with guests. 

“Everybody’s first words are usually ‘oh my gosh, wow,’” Green said. “They love the decor, they love the style, they love the energy in here. Everyone is always so excited to be here. We are definitely not your typical service industry experience on either side, I think. Most people are used to a restaurant –– this is not really a restaurant. Everything’s slower pace, more leisurely. Service is still timely, but no one is in a hurry.”

Tea at the Dollhouse Tearoom rolls out on antique serving carts presented by the staff. Creamy cucumber sandwiches and delicate, flaky quiches arrive on three-tiered serving trays brimming with delicious-looking treats. But this isn’t the kind of meal you just dig into –– it’s a moment to embrace a more posh approach and use your fanciest etiquette skills. It’s a social meal meant to be shared with companions.

“High tea is a meal that is typically enjoyed between breakfast and lunch,” Wafer said. “It can consist of sandwiches, pastries –– here we do scones, tea sandwiches, and assorted pastries. Most of our pastries have a root in English high tea because that’s kind of what we do, but we don’t shy away from some French pastries as well. We have macarons and madeleines. Some of the tartlets have French inspiration as well.”

Pastry Chef Samantha Erlanson is a recent pastry school graduate, and puts in the time behind the scenes to ensure each tart is up to the task of satisfying guests. She’s done the research to bring unique and inspired flavors to life, and her clotted cream is perhaps the best example this commitment to authentically crafted food. It’s a menu item that takes twenty-four hours of diligent care to make. 

“Clotted cream is traditionally heavy whipping cream,” she said. “In America, we like our ultra-pasteurized [dairy], so that’s the hard part because you’ve got to keep it at a simmer for like twelve hours, and then you’ve got to chill in for another twelve to twenty hours. There’s a lot of stirring and waiting until it gets to a nice thickened consistency.”

The end result is a luxurious cream that, when spread on scones, becomes the perfect partner to the otherwise dry, crumbly baked good.

And then, of course, there is the tea. With a curated collection from around the world, Wafer is confident in her ability to find a tea for anyone –– even those that prefer coffee. 

“We have darker, smokey black teas for those people,” Wafer said. “We have beautiful herbal teas that children and people that are sensitive to caffeine enjoy. We have mixes of black and green teas with lots of florals. I personally love floral teas so you’ll see a lot of rose, lavender, calendula petals in our teas –– and even our Earl Grey, which is a lavender Early Grey. We’ve tried to hit the bases, but still keep it creative. We make iced teas also, but more in the summer. Our staff has had the opportunity to kind of come in in the mornings and make their favorite pot of tea or try something new and give me feedback. I think most of our employees didn’t even really drink tea before they started working here. Now it’s become like an everyday thing where we have tea time in the morning –– tea time in the afternoon sometimes –– sometimes champagne time.”

And whether it’s champagne time or tea time, it’s a great excuse to get dressed up. Green, Erlanson, and Wafer always get excited when guests get dolled up to come in. 

“We have people dressing up all the time,” Green said. “We have guys dress up when they come in with their partners. We have little girls coming in dressing up in princess dresses when we have tea parties for them. First of all who doesn’t like a reason to dress up? People love coming in an assimilating and being part of this unique experience for a little bit.” 

And when tea time is over, guests can empty their cups and head back through the looking glass dreaming of the next time they’ll go back and experience the wonderland of the Dollhouse Tearoom.