LONDON — A teahouse run by a Japanese family in the Cotswolds area in west-central England has won the Top Tea Place 2008 Award by The Tea Guild.
Juri's Olde Bakery Tea Shoppe in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, is owned by the family of Iwao Miyawaki, 63, from Sapporo. It is the first time a Japanese has won the top prize in the 23-year history of the prestigious award.
According to The Tea Guild, inspectors who examined tea served at tearooms and hotels across Britain gave high marks to the choice and quality of the teas served, the ambience of the house as well as efficiency and knowledge of service at Juri's.
The family of Miyawaki, a former real estate company employee, used to travel the world but settled in Winchcombe and opened the teahouse in 2003 to realize their dream of living in the Cotswolds.
The service at the teahouse is "strongly influenced by the Miyawaki family's Japanese heritage and love of tea," says the U.K. Tea Council — the creator of the Tea Guild — on its Web site.
"The perfectly brewed teas are complemented by the exquisite homemade cakes and scones" made by Miyawaki's daughter, Juri, 32, after whom the teahouse is named, it said.
