My Florida: Girls Day Out to Erika’s Tearoom and The Great Floridian Marketplace

Disclaimer – Beautiful Touches was “treated” to High Tea at Erika’s Tea Room to facilitate this posting in the My Florida series of publications. No monetary compensation has been exchanged.  All opinions stated are those of the author.

Erika’s Tea Room and The Great Floridian Marketplace, are owned and operated by mother and daughter team, Erika and Leila Shanoff.  They are located in the Old Historic Downtown Clermont (Lake County), Florida, just minutes off of West Highway 50. This area is like stepping back in time, and the tea room and boutique are an absolute joy to visit.

One of my daughters, a granddaughter, and I, spent a pleasant afternoon with Erika and Leila. We had High Tea*, and then shopped till we dropped. I don’t know what I enjoyed more…the company, the food, or the shopping!

Erika’s Tearoom and The Great Floridian Marketplace

Lady of the Lake High Tea

Traditional English-style high tea is served on a 2-tiered server and includes:

• 2 Scones with Devon Cream and Preserves
• Soup or Salad of the Day
• 3 Tea Sandwiches
• 2 Miniature Desserts
• A pot of tea

The Days Menu Choices

• Scones: Crème brûlée, Carrot Raisin, White Chocolate Apricot, Lemon Blueberry, Cherry Almond, Orange Blueberry
• Soup: Cream of Rice
• Sandwiches: Turkey Salad with Cranberries, Egg Salad, Shrimp Salad, Tuna, and Cucumber
• Desserts: Mint Lava Brownies, Coconut Cupcakes, Lemon Cream Pies, and Fruit and Nut Bread Pudding

We each had a different tea (they offer daily selections of Black, Green, Oolong, Whites, Chai, Herbal & Fruit Infusions, along with Specialty Coffees). I chose Red Velvet Cupcake Herbal.  I believe that my daughter had English Breakfast, and my granddaughter went with Snickerdoodle. We ordered all of the scone flavors and shared. I thought that the Crème brûlée would be my favorite, but the Cherry Almond was the winner of the day. The scones were served with Lemon Curd and Devon Cream (which was soooooo good, that I could have just asked for a bowl full of each and been happy with nothing else).

This was followed by Cream of Rice soup, which was heavenly, and then the sandwiches. The Turkey Salad with Cranberries was my favorite.  I think my granddaughter liked the Egg Salad the best.  We had to, of course, include Cucumber, as High Tea would not be High Tea without them. For dessert I opted for the Fruit and Nut Bread Pudding which was served with warm Chocolate Sauce drizzled over the top.  Both my daughter and granddaughter had the Mint Lava Brownies.

After our  lovely meal, we perused the gift shop at the front of the tea room.  They have beautiful Jewelry that is to die for, and a HUGE selection of Tea Pots /Sets, Teas, Tea Accessories, which are available for purchase online, as are their Freshly Made Scones. They even offer a Tea of the Month Club!

Once we had made our purchases there, we went next door to their other shop – The Great Floridian Market Place.  I don’t know who had more fun there, but I think it was my granddaughter.  She got so excited when she discovered that they had a great selection of Simply Southern brand clothing. Now, if you happen to be in Clermont and stop by and discover the store to be closed, just pop next door to the Tea Room and someone will gladly open up the shop and let you browse to your heart’s content.

They have clothing, jewelry, home décor and more. We had a blast and each left with a bag full of goodies.

If you can’t visit in person (which is really a fun thing to do as both Erika and Leila are delightful, as well as their staff), shop online and have fun spending some time with them on YouTube, (and learn to make scones and other tasty treats)!

A little about Erika and Leila and Information from Erika’s Tea Room and The Great Floridian Marketplace

ERIKA

Originally from Manalapan, NJ, Erika Shanoff is the Vice President and the Tea Room Sommelier for Erika’s Tea Room in Clermont, Florida. Shanoff has enjoyed food and cooking since she was a young child, even when she was only mixing ingredients in a bowl for her mom. Some of her favorite memories was playing with her Easy Bake Oven to make cookies and cakes. While first helping to make food for dinners and special family celebrations, she became hooked.

Erika Shanoff studied home economics and culinary arts while in middle and high school. She first dreamed of pursuing a career in culinary arts and restaurant management. After receiving two high school degrees, she went on to get her Bachelors of Arts Degree from Kean University in New Jersey with a major in English and Secondary Education. Shanoff then went on to achieve her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. .

From a young age, she and her family traveled across the USA and the world to visit tea rooms on vacations. With inspiration from her mother, they enjoyed visits to the New Leaf Tea Room in New Jersey for every major birthday and holiday. They researched the best tea rooms in the world from their subscription to Tea Time Magazine. Together they traveled to Canada, England, Ireland, Spain and all across America while sharing important memorable experiences at the Disney Grand Floridian Tea Room in Florida, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel Tea Room in Montreal, the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec and Harrod’s Tea Room in London. Since college, she has continued her advanced education with numerous impressive certifications and honors. With her educational achievements, she was able to work with a diverse group of people, while educating and managing them on day-to-day tea room operations and restaurant management techniques.

Erika went on to teach for over ten years in a few different New Jersey area middle and high schools. She taught at Valencia College in Florida and was also a literacy coach and a reading specialist to help adult students and other teachers. She earned her diploma as a Certified Tea Master, while studying under one of the world’s leading tea masters and tea blenders. This important mentor is a Contributing Editor to Tea Time Magazine, while he has also published numerous top-selling books on tea, tea blending, etiquette, cultural tea ceremonies, tea history and customs.

Shanoff’s valuable certifications and mentorships taught her advanced methods for how to better intently listen to people in order to better meet their personal tea desires and lifestyle needs. With her strong education-based background, Shanoff believes that ‘Knowledge is Power!’ She continues to look for and take advantage of endless advanced educational opportunities, especially in business operations, marketing and restaurant management. She is enrolled in an internationally respected mentorship program.

Originally from Brooklyn and raised in Staten Island, New York, Leila Shanoff migrated to New Jersey. She credits her successful career to her parents, saying. “My mom was a great instinctual cook. I admired her and she taught me to love cooking. She let me cook the daily family meals when I was only six. From there, she allowed me to plan and cater all of the family celebrations with festive meals.”

Leila

Leila Shanoff always wanted to become a chef but her old-fashioned father, discouraged that career choice as not an option for women.  In his opinion, women were to become a nurse or a school teacher. So while her original career was not the one she craved since childhood, her father’s voice is still the one she hears in her head and guides her in business today.

Shanoff attended Brooklyn College to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. With a desired change in direction, she then went on to pursue her MBA at Regis University in Colorado, majoring in Accounting and Finance. Leila Shanoff worked in professional banking services for many years. She helped teach younger bankers, lenders and financial professionals how to succeed in banking, lending, sales and credit operations. She researched and wrote her own proprietary text books to teach bankers and small business owners in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and across the United States. She rose through the ranks to become a very well-respected Senior Vice President with some important national banking chains and institutions. After a banking career move to Iowa, she became re-interested in her original love for creative cooking

Mother-Daughter Career Aspirations! Together with her daughter Erika, they move the family to warmer weather in sunny Clermont, Florida, in order to start a new family-owned tea room and gift shop business. Together, they launched Erika’s Tea Room. She wanted to combine their shared and individual talents and experiences. With this in mind, she was able to take advantage of Erika’s training and abilities in restaurant management, hospitality, staff operations and creative special event planning, while becoming her partner as the tea room chef.  Together, they keep every day fresh, new and exciting.

Leila launched Erika’s Tea Room scones as a separate mail-order business, so their loyal followers could celebrate with a High Tea experience at home and with friends or relatives as well as at work or corporate occasions. They have even opened The Great Floridian Marketplace, next door to Erika’s Tea Room, so they could collaborate the resources for special fashion shows and creative event planning. Leila notes, “All of our inter-related businesses work together! The crossover of each business, really helps all of our business enterprises!”

Savor The Flavors! Leila has become a nationally recognized expert scone maker and a Certified Tea Master. It took her two full years of testing, travels and research to develop the base recipe for her new ‘Florida Famous Scones.’ With a secret recipe, she only uses the very best high-quality ingredients, starting with her base mixture of heavy cream, buttermilk, sour cream and cream cheese before adding flour, sugar, baking powder and the other ingredients. They have used their own focus groups to taste-test many different and unique new recipes, flavors and textures. Leila cooks and plates all of the food for Erika’s Tea Room guests. Their tea room menu offers an array of delicious soups, scones, salads, quiche and more.

Erika’s Tea Room

Reservations are Required

(No children under 10 years of age for Tea, and no children under 18 for Events.)

787 W. Montrose Street
Clermont, FL 34711

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-908-670-2305

Tuesday- Saturday

Store: 10AM-5PM

Tearoom: 11AM-4PM

 

Perfect Gifts! – With eCommerce & Mail Order Scones: Today, Erika’s Tea Room creates and ships freshly made scones on a daily basis all across the United States. Gift Packs offer individually wrapped and labeled scones that can be enjoyed right from the box. Customized orders are taken by phone email and via their website. Without preservatives, the normal fresh shelf life is up to one week, yet they may also be frozen for quick and easy access for up to six months. Each package comes with easy-to-follow instructions for warming. You can order a special gift box for friends, family and co-workers to celebrate year-end holidays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays. Anniversaries, Valentine’s Day and any special occasion.

• Customized Tea & Scone Gift Packs
• Extra Special Gift Packs
• Scone Gift Sets Just For Men
• Creative Corporate Gifting

Making National & International Headlines! They have been repeatedly featured for years in Tea Time Magazine, the world’s most popular tea publication for tea aficionados. They have been savored on national TV with a wonderful testimonial from an original Shark Tank star, Kevin Harrington. Today, Erika’s Tea Room scones and Gift Packs are being featured as a favorite choice by editors, influencers and bloggers in many national and international gift guides.

Erika’s Tea Room Scones: Erika’s Tea Room Scones, now successfully offers over 30 popular flavors, while they are still always exploring and adding new seasonal recipes. Leila Shanoff adds, “There are so many diverse flavors in the world … why not try all of them!” Today, Leila and her daughter Erika work hard to create wonderful personalized tea room experiences and memories for each of their loyal followers.

The Great Floridian Marketplace

787 W. Montrose Street
Clermont, FL 34711

Everything for Your Floridian Style

The Great Floridian Marketplace has everything for your Floridian Lifestyle. With women’s clothes and accessories, men’s shirts, jewelry and home decor. It’s a one stop shopping experience. Schedule an appointment with one of our personal shoppers and we’ll help you find the perfect outfit for a vacation, work, or a day around time.

They also have hold fabulous EVENTS!

Learn More, Follow, and Shop Erika’s Tea Room: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Learn More, Follow, and Shop The Great Floridian Marketplace: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest