KOCHI : Tucked away on a quiet lane in Fort Kochi, Teapot is a heritage-style tea room that boasts the patronage of the city’s thinkers, journalists, writers and artists. For 22 years, it remained, unfrazzled by the mushrooming of ‘modern, hip and exotic’ cafes in the vicinity, and showing no signs of slowing down.
However, on Saturday, much to everyone’s surprise, the owners — Priyadarshini Sharma and Sanjai Damodaran — announced that the place was shutting down.
This decision to close, much like decanting tea, had been in the making for a while now, Sanjai told TNIE. “It is very heartening to see the messages pouring in — from people for whom our little establishment had been a sanctuary these past years. We are very grateful to them. But it is time to move on. For the next chapter of our lives,” he said.
Co-owner Priyadarshini too feels the same way. “Every good thing has to come to an end. We are not saddened by this decision. It has been a long journey. A very satisfactory one, no doubt. But a long one. We are looking forward to moving on,” she told TNIE.
Teapot began in 2002 when the duo decided to pool their passion for tea and open a small venture. Priyadarshini’s family had been in the tea business for ages and knew well the intricacies of tea making.
“I also had a collection of teapots and filters from my trips to estates with my husband. And Sanjay had a treasure trove of artworks and antique pieces he had collected over the years. For us, the idea behind Teapot was to give a home to all that, whilst also exploring the possibility of offering a space for conversations,” she said.
As to whether the duo would consider restarting Teapot some years down the line, perhaps at another location, Priyadarshi says, “It won’t be Teapot. We don’t even want to disturb the memory of what Teapot was.”