Sept. 29, 2015 By Christian Murray
Communitea, the popular tea house and coffee shop that had been located on Vernon Blvd for a decade, reopened on 46th Road today.
Kafia Saxe and Lloyd Canning, the husband-and-wife duo who own of Communitea, closed their 47-02 Vernon Blvd location about a year ago after struggling to renew their lease. In the past nine months, they found new space at 11-18 46th Road and converted a carpenter’s shop into the cafe they opened today.
The new location is just a few blocks from their former space and was selected, in part, for that reason. “We wanted to be close to our customer base and we have kept a good connection in the past year,” Saxe said.
LIC Post first reported that Communitea was opening at this location in May.
Communitea is offering its traditional fare, such as salads, wraps, burgers, paninis, croissants and scones. The menu will be written on the blackboard behind the counter—similar to the old venue–in coming days.
Communitea will offer a dinner menu for the first time, although the items they will serve are still being determined.
The new location is significantly larger than the Vernon Boulevard space and also offers a patio. The venue can seat about 40 inside and a little over 20 in the patio.
The patio is still a work in progress and has to be approved by Community Board 2 before it can be used.
Communitea will be offering wine and beer for the first time, and will be serving local beer on tap.
The hours have yet to be determined but Saxe said they are likely to stay open until 10 pm during the week and midnight on weekends. Opening hours are expected to be around 8 am.
“Our hours are not set,” Saxe said. “We are just feeling it out.”
New location
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Former location (to become Gantry LIC)
