Richmond Times Dispatch

Written By Whitney Cardozo

English tea service to start at Chez Foushee for holidays

Tea rooms are on the rise in Richmond. The Queen’s Library Tea Room opened last year in downtown Richmond, followed by Floris at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Owner Whitney Cardozo first launched holiday tea service at Chez Foushee in 2022. Chez Foushee

Now Chez Foushee is getting into serving a fancy, traditional English tea, just in time for the holidays.

Chez Foushee (2 E. Grace St.) is hosting traditional English tea service ($60 per person) on Fridays and Saturdays, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. from Dec. 6-Dec. 21.


Recently, I sat for a tea service with Whitney Cardozo, owner of Chez Foushee. When I arrived, Cardozo had the table set with a sampling of gluten-free and gluten-full macarons, tea sandwiches, madeleines, scones and tiny lemon butter cakes. Her certified organic tea is sourced from Virginia importer, Dominion Tea. I selected Earl Grey, which was fragrant and strong enough for my liking.


Cardozo bought Chez Foushee in 2017. When COVID-19 closed restaurants, Chez Foushee had to pivot to takeaway food that travels well. She redid the menu and reconfigured how to make the food to go, and she did three-course dinner boxes. “Because it was such a bleak time, I made them very pretty and I wrapped them like a gift with a bow,” Cardozo said. “You opened it and it was kind of a surprise. All you had to do was reheat, following the directions, and I also had directions to plate the meal like a chef would, to recreate the experience of going out to eat. That did really well. It kept us going and kept four of my employees employed.”

When lockdown was over, she brought the idea of a pretty presentation to her tea service. She collected old tablecloths, mismatched vintage china and fancy cut glass trays and dessert stands from vintage stores to make her teas feel highly personalized and special. The effect was feeling like each service was created with care, and Cardozo kept the guests’ experience front of mind.

Cardozo started the tea service in 2022. “I am a Francophile and also an Anglophile. I always liked the ritual of tea. My mom is from Nova Scotia, and she drinks tea, not coffee. Tea has always been part of my life. So I knew that I would make it as special as possible. We have tiered tea sandwiches with scones and clotted cream and jam, and then the sweets on the top.”

The tea sandwiches are cucumber and mint, and herbed blue cheese. They also do an egg salad or a ham and cheese — very simple, and done the right way. A full service is $60. The seatings are for two and then for eight to ten. If you give advanced notice, you can get vegan and gluten-free items.

Cardozo tries to source her products from sellers who are within 100 miles of her location. The teas she sources from Dominion Tea are part of the purveyor’s collection of imported teas that include a wide variety of the classics you know, like Earl Grey, Darjeeling and mint, but also include lesser-known varieties like Adirondack Berries, Yiwu Shu Puerh and apple pie flavored.


“In the next few years, I want to turn out this sort of service more often,” Cardozo said. “I think there is a demand that we can expand and offer the tea service more times throughout the year.”


At present, she is running the service through December — have your pinkies poised at the ready.

Pre-registration starts Nov. 1. Please email the restaurant to reserve your space at reservations@chezfoushee.com

If You Go:
Address: 2 E. Grace St.

Hours: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday
Holiday tea: Fridays and Saturdays Dec. 6-Dec. 21, 2:30 to 4 p.m. Pre-registration is recommended
Contact: (804) 648-3225 or chezfoushee.com

Whitney Cardozo
Previous

Apartment Therapy

Next

Canvas Rebel