Tim Harty, The Business Times

You’ll see the business name, learn Purrl’s Tea & Curious is a tea house and figure that’s logical.

But you also will have a logical, immediate question, some version of: What does “and Curious” mean?

Go ahead. Purrl’s Tea & Curious owner Sedona Moon knows you want to ask.

And when you do, the chef who previously operated Haus of Purrl cafe in a tiny hut in Palisade will have a question for you: Are you curious?

The obvious answer is yes, and to that she says, “That’s the point.”

Moon opened Purrl’s Tea & Curious on March 27 at 2829 North Ave., Unit 203, in the Solarus Square building, next to Sonic Drive-In. It’s a soft opening, as there are more things to do and acquire before the tea house will be the full manifestation of Moon’s vision.

But you already can see a little of what she has in mind – paintings by a local artist on display and for sale, tea pots for sale, games available to play – now that she has 817 square feet to utilize. It’s a small tea house, but it seems large after spending a couple years confined to the 160 square feet of the hut where Haus of Pearl resided at the corner of First and Main streets in Palisade.

So, there will be more things to be curious about in the friendly confines of Purrl’s Tea & Curious.

“Haus of Purrl,” Moon said, “when we first developed it, everybody’s like, ‘What is a Purrl? I don’t understand. What does it mean, Haus of Purrl? And why the German? And why, why, why, why?’”

All of these questions came from curious people, so Moon went all in when naming her new business venture.

“Purrl’s Tea & Curious kind of expands on (Haus of Purrl) and allows for people to come in and to see all the different things that we offer, as opposed to just being a face inside of a window,” Moon said. “They get a chance to come in and check out all the different gifts that we wanted to offer before, all the different things that we wanted to offer before, but we couldn’t because our place was too small.

“We’ve got gifts, and we’ve got – it’s kind of hard to explain what I mean by being curious, but curiosity is just it. There’s a lot of different things in our shop that will drive people to ask questions about themselves, about what we do, about what we offer.”

For those familiar with Haus of Purrl, which Moon closed at the end of January, Purrl’s Tea & Curious is not Haus of Purrl. Certainly, there are similarities, because Moon’s French-inspired baking and cooking remains the culinary focal point. But Purrl’s Tea & Curious is embracing the tea-house concept and providing more sweets and pastries that pair well with tea.

“We are known for our sweets and our savories, especially like Cajun fare, but this is a new concept,” she said, “so we’ll be having a lot more of our pastry, and we’ll still be working sandwiches and some specials, but primarily teas, doing parties and things like that.”

Moon said she decided to make the change in location and offerings late last year after hosting tea parties at Maison La Belle Vie Winery, 3575 G Road, in Palisade.

“So,” she said, “we were working with them to do plated dinners or outfitting tea parties at their location, and we saw there was a huge desire for it and a huge push, and we were selling out sometimes within minutes … for a tea party. And so, when we’re booking out like that I decided to go on and change it over and do this instead. ”

The social aspect of tea parties melds with the relaxed ambiance Moon wants at Purrl’s Tea & Curious.

Customers walk in and see a couch to the right of the entrance, a few tables and chairs, and when they get to the counter, there’s a display case for pastries and such.

Next to the counter are a couple shelving units, displaying tea pots, tea cups and various teas to choose.

Moon said the teas are locally sourced from Willow Creek Herbs and Teas, 411 Main St. in Grand Junction.

Then, when it’s tea-party time, Moon said, “They’ll be able to come in, they can choose their own cup, they’ll be able to choose their own saucer, and they’ll be able to choose their own tea pot that they’re gonna drink out of as well as their own tea.

“All our teas are loose leaf, so they have the ability to choose the tea that they want to pair with their tea party, and if they want for us to pair it, we will be more than happy to. So, they choose what tea they want, and they come and sit down, and then we jump into action of bringing out their platters and bringing out their teas and make sure that they’re very happy and well fed.”