The Chattaway’s afternoon tea tradition will live on at Violet’s Cuppa Tea in Gulfport
/As The Chattaway’s final afternoon tea reservations filled up, pieces of its English tea room were already being packed away.
Pictures of Queen Elizabeth II came off the walls. Cups and saucers were wrapped for the move. Customers came for one last tea service before the restaurant changed hands, and many had the same question for Amanda Kitto: Where would she serve tea next?
At the time, she didn’t have an answer. Now she does.
Violet’s Cuppa Tea plans to open Sunday, November 15th at 5325 Gulfport Boulevard, offering traditional English afternoon tea in a pink building next to The Boulevard Shoppe and across from Habana Cafe.
Owner Amanda Kitto is the youngest daughter of Jillian Frers, whose family operated The Chattaway for decades before selling the south St. Pete restaurant and property in September.
The sale preserved one of the most historic and longest-running restaurants in St. Pete. But while the burgers and garden remained, the new owners converted the English-inspired tea room into additional restaurant seating and discontinued afternoon tea.
Kitto, who began working at The Chattaway at age 14, decided to continue it herself.
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A new vintage boutique specializing in women's clothing and accessories from the late 1990s and early 2000s is coming to the Grand Central District of St. Pete.
Clique Vintage is expected to open later this month at 2042 Central Avenue, in an 800-square-foot storefront between The St. Pete Barber Shop and Crispy Avenue Cafe.
Behind the boutique is 25-year-old Cammie Peebles, who has spent the past several years selling vintage clothing online and at local markets.
Peebles grew up in Historic Kenwood and remembers visiting the former Haslam's Book Store as a child.
"It's so full circle," Peebles said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. "If only I knew when I was little that I was going to be opening a store right across the street, I would have thought I was so cool."
Clique Vintage will carry a curated assortment of Y2K fashion, including embroidered tank tops, low-rise denim jeans, mini skirts, designer purses, and cheetah-print heels.