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| Birmingham News U.S. 280 emerges as specialty food corridor Posted by News staff writer Kelli Hewett Taylor April 25, 2007 9:55 AM Driving U.S. 280 might conjure up thoughts of four-letter words more often than four-star food. However, tucked into the blur of U.S. 280 strip malls, little pieces of culinary heaven are attracting shoppers from around the Southeast. From Inverness to Greystone, specialty stores and restaurants make up a food lover's treasure trail. These stores often boast fresh, imported, organic, authentic or rare culinary items in the metro area. Are you in desperate need of a 60-year-old bottle of Tuscan balsamic vinegar -- for $200? Then The Vintage Wine Shoppe on Cahaba Park Circle is your place................ Maybe the Emeril in you is dying for three types of saffron, or the choice of eight specialty sea salts. Penzey's Spices in Inverness Corners shopping center beat out Atlanta for a franchise in the Southeast................. Nearly two years ago, Rosemarie Kramer opened Miss Rosemarie's Special Teas. It's a European-style tea salon and lunch restaurant in Inverness Highlands shopping center, about three blocks west of U.S. 280 on Valleydale Road. The antique tables, fresh flowers, custom-blended tea, and homemade sandwiches, quiches and desserts are standard, but treats to customers such as Belinda Speigner-Lyons of Fairfield and Chevalla Wilson of Bessemer. "Once you've been here," Speigner-Lyons said, "you want to come back." Kramer suspects that lunch is the new indulgence for busy people. The 280 corridor, she says, is offering some competition to the fine dining often associated with downtown Birmingham. "The china, the silver, the crystal -- I try to tell people they should be doing things like this for themselves every day," Kramer said. "Why not treat yourself? What are you saving it for?" ..................... |
| Birmingham News - Wednesday June 13 2007 Miss Rosemarie's tearoom featured in 'Tea Experience' JO ELLEN O'HARA - News staff writer "The Tea Experience" is a new book compiled by the editors of Tea Time magazine, which is locally published by Hoffman Media. The book provides insight into the service and style that makes each tea experience what some feel is "uniquely appealing." "The Tea Experience" is a great addition to the library of the tea enthusiast, as it offers a broad glimpse at some of the country's most celebrated tea experiences, as well as a handful of newly discovered destinations. Eighteen tearooms around the country receive special attention, and one of them is Miss Rosemarie's Special Teas at 5299 Valleydale Road, which opened several years ago. Rosemarie Kramer tells how she feels about her own tearoom in the book. "I wanted to provide people with a haven. Somewhere to come in, take a deep breath, and relax and enjoy." Miss Rosemarie's Special Teas was Kramer's first venture into the restaurant business. (She serves lunch and food to accompany tea), but she recalls her mother hosting many teas and card parties for friends in Michigan. As an adult, Kramer learned the art of tea time from an Atlanta decorator, who taught that good china should be used every day and enjoyed. |
