Tea room opening in Tower Grove South; owners are from Johannesberg, South Africa

Tea room opening in Tower Grove South
(Business Journal, Wed., Aug. 28)

A new tea room and restaurant is coming to Tower Grove South.

Fleur de Tea, owned by Colleen Vucinovich, should open in early to mid-September at 4168 Juniata St. The new concept will offer tea service, cocktails and a food menu featuring global cuisine.

The restaurant is a new venture for Vucinovich, who moved to the U.S. about nine years ago. Vucinovich is a native of Johannesburg, South Africa. She said that tea, due to South Africa's previous British colonization, was part of the culture she experienced growing up. Prior to the U.S., Vucinovich lived in the United Kingdom for three years and "got that tea experience reinforced."

Operating a restaurant is a new experience for Vucinovich, but she's been an entrepreneur. She began her career working in the film industry in hair and makeup and later launched her own cosmetics company. Vucinovich has operated other businesses and formerly was a business professor at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

The house specialty at Fleur de Tea will be chocolate mousse that is made from a family recipe, Vucinovich said. The dish is made with five organic ingredients and no preservatives, according to Vucinovich. She said her and her husband, Craig, have long toyed with the idea of starting their own chocolate mousse brand. The launch of Fleur de Tea combines the chocolate mousse concept with Colleen Vucinovich's love of tea, though the restaurant almost didn't happen.

Vucinovich said that prior to finding the location at 4168 Juniata, she had looked at two other locations that ended up not being the right fit for the business. That led her and husband to instead focus on finding a commercial kitchen to launch the chocolate mousse brand, but in that search, they discovered the 5,000-square-foot space in Tower Grove South that also allowed for a restaurant. The space includes a production kitchen along with its 1,500-square-foot dining room.

The property previously housed potsticker restaurant Crispy Edge, which closed its brick-and-mortar business in 2023. The restaurant space is owned by BFITW LLC, whose registered agent is J. Randolph Parham, according to city and state records. Vucinovich said she has a five-year lease, with a five-year option, for the restaurant space. Caleb Anthonis of Manor Real Estate represented BFITW in the lease transaction. Vucinovich represented herself in the lease negotiations. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed. City asking retail rents average $9.73 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Vucinovich said the launch of Fleur de Tea provides an outlet for customers to experience tea culture from several countries. The restaurant's food menu will have English, French, Indian and South African influence. She said the filling of sandwiches will be unique to each region. French items will include crepes and canapes and there will be vegetarian Indian fare. The chocolate mousse will also be adapted to regional flavors. Vucinovich said there will be a French-inspired chocolate mousse infused with orange and served with a splash of Cointreau liqueur. Another variation of the dessert, designed to align with the Indian and South African menus, will be infused with African chili oil and a dash of chili pepper extract.

Vucinovich said she expects guests to be at Fleur de Tea for about an hour and half to two hours for tea service. "This is a place where you come to unwind, to be with friends, to have great conversation and to enjoy some good food," she said.

The effort to open the restaurant has included revamping the décor inside the restaurant with new carpet, fresh paint and custom murals on the wall. Vucinovich likened the interior to feeling like you're sitting in the French countryside enjoying tea.

"What we've created is a luxurious, botanical feel," she said.

The design and construction of the new restaurant has been handled by Craig Vucinovich. The project has been self-funded. Vucinovich declined to disclose investment costs to launch the new restaurant.

Fleur de Tea will be open from Wednesday to Saturday with typical hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It will offer brunch tea from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with high tea service from 3 p.m. to closing.

The opening of Fleur de Tea will mark the return of a tea room to Tower Grove South, which was home to London Tea Room prior to its relocation in 2022 to Downtown West. London Tea Room announced earlier this month it is shutting its Downtown West restaurant.

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