Bringing People to Tea Together

Those were hard economic times for Judith Gifford and her husband Nick when they started Tea for Two.

The two filmmakers were without jobs in England before they moved to France with nothing almost two decades ago.

"Nick's mother sent me books to cheer me up," Gifford said. "In one of them, there was a recipe for marmalade and I tried it."

The marmalade recipe is what led to the company, which until now has only been available in high-end hotels and restaurants. Now the couple has opened its first retail store in downtown Millburn.

The couple has its line of marmalades, jams and chutneys on sale in addition to other handmade foods that they have collected from friends in the business.

The line is more expensive than industrial versions, Gifford said, because it is made with organic and natural ingredients using hands and no machines. Two chefs in France prepare the marmalades, jams and chutneys in the same way it was done when the Giffords cooked the line themselves.

"They're full of character," Gifford said. "They're still 60 percent fruit and 40 percent sugar."

The Millburn Avenue shop has a long table, and Gifford said she wishes for it to be full with people drinking coffee and tea while tasting the Tea Together products. It would underline the social aspects of the company's mission, she said, offering local residents an opportunity to have a pause in the day with friends.

"There's been a feeling of discovery so far," she said of the people who have come to the shop, which opened in late November. "They've never seen a shop like this."

Gifford said the locals in France were interested in the marmalade initially because they didn't know what it was.

"Their culture is very different," she said. "They don't have breakfast or tea like we do in our cultures. They were fascinated by it."

An organization in France encouraged the Giffords to start a business making the marmalades, but the local people were not interested in buying it when they brought it to the local food fairs and markets.

"No one knew what it was and would never buy it," she said. "I would come back in tears."

An article about the 10 best hotels included mention of Hotel Costes in France, and Gifford said she decided to send them a sample of the marmalades and jams. The hotel was the first to buy the line to use in its restaurant and room service.

"The breakfast is three pots of our marmalades and a loaf of bread," she said.

The business has grown where the Tea Together line is served in many high-end hotels and restaurants, but Gifford said they wanted to get outside the "charmed circle" and have a presence with the consumers.

"We have lots of flavors the hotels don't take because they want to be conservative," she said. "We have a seasonal selection."

Someone mentioned Millburn and that there was a shop on Millburn Avenue available for lease, and the couple thought it would be the right spot, she said.

"It's a lively New Jersey town and more villagey than New York," she said. "It's much like our roots in France. It suits the feeling of Tea Together."

Opening the shop—which happened in late November—came right as the economy plunged, but Gifford said they wanted to press forward because they were excited about having a retail shop.