My Cup of Tea: Dragonmoon Tea Company

The first time I heard about Dragonmoon Tea Company was in a tweet from the mayor of Tulsa herself, Kathy Taylor. She mentioned she'd eaten there for lunch that day, and I was surprised. Lunch at a tea company? Dragonmoon sounded more like a fancy name for another Oz competitor to me.

Last week, I learned just how wrong-headed I'd been.

Two girlfriends, my toddling son and I stopped in to Dragonmoon, at 1927 S. Harvard Ave., for lunch and we, not to be cliche, got a lot more. By the end of the meal we'd shared a pot of warm, spicy, almost buttery White Christmas tea and three plates' full of desserts and pastries. That was in addition to the two helpings of rich, cheesy quiche wrapped in the flakiest of crusts, as well as a pita sandwich to end all pita sandwiches.

Look at the pretty china we got to use. I felt like a dainty English gentlewoman. With a wriggling, quiche-covered toddler on my lap. Wait - what?

Did I mention that we ordered potato salad, too? And cold, citrus-spiced rice? Well, we did. Oh, boy, did we ever.

Just as charming as the china and the food is the cafe itself. Housed in what appears to have once been a family home (anyone know the history of this building just north of 21st and Harvard?), the two first-floor dining rooms host just a few tables - ours had four. On the walls were two large pet portraits by local artist Matt Moffett.

Lovely, no?

The painting, I mean. Not that the girls aren't lovely, because they most certainly, definitely are. Thing is, these girls also happen to be the salt of the earth. They spend their days making Tulsa a better place from their offices at a few of Tulsa's YWCA locations. What they and the people they work with manage to do for the people of this community in need of YWCA services (all 25,000 of them, the number who participated in YWCA programs last year) within the span of an average work day blows my mind. Hey, YWCA? Thank you.

When it comes to friends, I'm something the kids these days like to call lucky.

See that girl on the left? Her name is Wendy. I've known Wendy for almost four years now. She helped me to stay sane during my first job as a reporter. She also helped me test I don't know many of the renditions of bread pudding available in this town. To say that we're versed in the genre, at least when it comes to what Tulsa has to offer, is the understatement of the entirety of custard history.

Of course, when we saw that bread pudding was on the menu at Dragonmoon, we couldn't pass it up.

Mmm - bread pudding that looks like it wants to fight me. Just the way I like it. Give me bread pudding with texture and interest over the smooth, creamy kind any day.

Oh, man. That tea just wouldn't stop. A pot of it sounds really good right about now. Too bad I didn't snag any on my way out from the small tea and gift shop at the front of the cafe. Doh.

Half a pot of tea, a hearty slice of quiche, a large scoop of potato salad and a plate of bread pudding with whiskey sauce totaled $15. It's not the most inexpensive lunch I've ever had, and I certainly wouldn't pay $15 for lunch every day (not that I don't want to when it comes to some yummy nosh), but it's certainly a fair price for an occasional treat.

When you give this place a try, be sure to tell me what kind of tea you had. I'm dying to go back and try more, both from the hot and cold tea menus, and I'd love some good advice.

After all, what would a tea company be without lots and lots and lots of selection when it comes to, well, tea?

If you've tried Dragonmoon, tell us about it in the comments. In the meantime we'll be doing what tea drinkers do - putting the kettle on and making cranberry-orange scones and idly building pyramids of lumps of sugar, anticipating that next cup.