TeaHaus recapturing ‘third space’ with device-free café - MLive.com

takanadalagi.blogspot.com

ANN ARBOR, MI -- The TeaHaus is turning over a new (tea) leaf.

Oversized macarons and more than 200 tea options are available in Ann Arbor again with the reopening of the TeaHaus café, 204 N. Fourth Ave., in December. Although the café has brought back the variety of drinks and tea-infused pastries the shop is known for, the new expansion has also made way for a sampling of cocktails and other new additions.

Lisa McDonald, owner of TeaHaus, originally ran a café in the space now occupied by Mindo Chocolate, but was forced to close it during the COVID-19 pandemic. She decided to reopen the café on the other side of her shop, renovating and combining the two areas to create a larger, airier space.

The space now occupied by her café was previously home to the Ann Arbor Running Company.

Customers can enjoy cocktails, like the Winter Pear Hot Toddy, featuring Mammoth Distilling Northern Rye, pear liquor and rooibos tea, or sample any of the 210 teas the café sells. Macarons, quiche, cookies and other pastries are also on the menu.

But the café has a catch — laptops aren’t allowed. There isn’t even Wi-Fi available.

“We need to reconnect by trying to disconnect,” McDonald said.

Visitors are invited to enjoy a cup of tea or cocktail, lounge by the fireplace, knit or sample a book from the shop’s Little Free Library.

Read more: Michigan’s Best Local Eats: TeaHaus serves up scones, macarons at Full English Tea

The laptop ban is a bid to recapture the concept of the third space, a term used to refer to a location that is neither work nor home.

“Through COVID, that third place became an extension of work,” McDonald said, adding she wants to return the third space to an extension of home instead.

The café is reopening as the store rounds the corner to a milestone anniversary. McDonald originally opened the TeaHaus in 2007, just days after the birth of her second child. Her son and the store are both celebrating 15 years this December.

Read more: TeaHaus owner in Ann Arbor is one of handful of European-trained tea sommeliers living in US

When the TeaHaus first opened, it had minimal seating and more than 200 varieties of tea, and hints of the former shop still exist in the new space. One wall still features “TeaHaus brown,” complete with the original “spice wall” shelving. But for the most part, McDonald doesn’t think much about the upcoming anniversary.

She is more excited to bring the spotlight back onto the tea, she said. While the original rendition of the café, opened four years after the shop, offered a broader menu, McDonald hopes the pared-down version will revitalize the shop’s focus.

“In the end, (the tea is) the most important thing,” she said. “Just come and enjoy the space. We do.”

Read more from The Ann Arbor News:

Ann Arbor DDA parts ways with director after closed-session performance review

5 fun things to do in Ann Arbor this weekend (Dec. 9-11)

Ann Arbor reprioritizes stimulus funds for downtown restrooms, city ambulance

Adblock test (Why?)

"cafe" - Google News
December 08, 2022 at 11:39PM
https://ift.tt/w2IxR6P

TeaHaus recapturing ‘third space’ with device-free café - MLive.com
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/df02cpT
https://ift.tt/EwyTXb6