Tea Thyme & Tisane, new tea cafe, opens in Carrollton City Square

Yet another neat place opening in Carrollton.

CARROLLTON — Charles Dean Bowen knew two things: He always loved tea, and he was hating his job as an accountant.

So on August 3, he followed his dream by opening Tea Thyme & Tisane, a premier tea bar and cafe in Carrollton City Square, where he serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus teas, tea ware, and tea accessories.

"As an accountant, I was miserable, to be honest, and I felt like this is what I needed to do," he says. "I said, 'I don't care, I just want to do it, if it works, it works'."

His tea comes from several suppliers he met at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, including Dethlefsen & Balk and Rishi organic tea. He has green tea, white tea, black tea, and tisanes, or herbal infusions. But he also has a more extensive menu than the usual tea room.

For example, the signature dish is meat loaf which has a kicky sauce that Bowen describes as being "almost like a salsa." Mildred's creamed corn casserole comes from Bowen's grandmother's recipe. He also has a part-time pastry chef, Karen Kitchen, who makes the scones and muffins.

"Initially I planned to do scones and muffins, like a Starbucks or a tea room, but the chef I hired, Benjamin Andrade, can do so much more than that, so we decided to do a full menu," Bowen says.

He's received support from the owners of the space as well as his neighbors, he says.

"The owners are tea lovers, and they let me use some of their old furniture, like display cases and cooking equipment, from the restaurant that was here previously," he says, referring to the old Cafe on the Square. "And this downtown Carrollton area is really cute. It has a lot of neat little shops, and the shop owners are all active, so this is a nice place to be."