RSS
Home
Tea for me in London
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
An innocent on my first trip abroad, I immersed myself in the British tradition of tea. I didn't know a scone from a sconce.
But I started at the top, The Palm Court at London’s Ritz Hotel. There, the mauve velvet furniture blends into the pink damask table linens and Oriental rugs; silver sparkles among the gilt, ceiling-to-floor mirrors and glass ceiling.
I felt so American, Texan no less, that I made a gaffe as big as The Ritz, or Texas. Never good at math, figuring tips, or conversion rates, I lingered over tea and currency until a waiter felt sympathy.
The Cary Grant look alike with an accent as crisp as his wing collar, white tie and tails, asked if he might help. I offered up pounds sterling, “Puhleeze take enough for the check and a generous tip. And puhleeze excuse me.” He obliged, bowing gallantly. I blushed as red as the tomaaahhhto in my crustless sandwich, and fled.
Years later, that paled in comparison with my behavior at a Ritz rival, The Savoy. Over tea, I finally popped the question to my long-time, long-distance British darling. “Are you married?” When he took a deep breath and softly replied yes, my tears flowed like Darjeeling. I wasn't exactly sobbing, but I sure wasn't stompin' at The Savoy.
I took heart over next day's tea at Claridge's, where Liz Taylor and twice-ex-hubby Richard Burton had stayed, ill-fated Fergie and her prince had held their engagement soiree, and where more happily and recently, this year, Heidi Klum and Seal had afternoon tea in Claridge’s tea room, with its chartreuse tones against rosy-posy wallpaper and faux marble pillars
At Claridge's, the tea maitre'd described the delicacies as "Instant heart attack -- I love it. Have it.” I obeyed, eating finger sandwiches of cucumber, watercress like four-leaf clovers, smoked salmon and corned beef. Sweets included meringue chestnuts and cream, traditional Madeira cake, opera gateau and several mousses. I hoped that Prince of Wales tea would balance the richness.
I tried other tea sanctuaries like Fortum & Mason, whose first specialty was tea when it was founded 301 years ago, and other fabled spots. I savo(u)red Earl Grey, whose strong fragrance reminds me of cologne, but only a soupcon of Lapsang Souchong because it smells and tastes like liquid tar. Maybe I should have tried Russian Caravan and Gunpowder teas.
Now an experienced afternoon tea-taster, I returned to the birthplace of 'ritzy' for pointers from a Ritz tea room head waiter who told me, “Tea is terribly British, a great tradition. And taking tea at The Ritz is one of the things in life worth doing.”
To ease my lingering embarrassment, he regaled me with tales of worse boo-boos than mine. “One common mistake is calling afternoon tea 'high' tea, which is actually,” he whispered, “lower class ... it's their dinner. At The Ritz, no, no, no.”
I absorbed all this along with scones and rich clotted cream. Silver platters bore eclairs, mousses, fruit tarts, napoleons, cakes ... Holy hypoglycemia.
My most recent tea experience was at The Lanesborough Hotel where my room came with my very own butler. The only request I made of Nigel was to serve morning tea in bed. Somehow, that terrified poor little Nigel. As they say in Texas, “ain’t cha never heard of breakfast in bed?” His bones shook so much that the bone china and the silver rattled. Lil’ Ni, not for all the tea in China, where tea originated some 5,000 years ago. Did he really fear I wanted him to be the sugar in my tea? I feared the precariously shaking, scalding tea would spill all over me.
Obviously, nervous Nigel hadn’t read his compatriot poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who once wrote, “O Goddess best beloved, delightful Tea! … Sweet power, who know’st to spread the calm delight…”
Guess I should have waited for afternoon tea in The Lanesborough’s Withdrawing Room or glass-roofed Conservatory filled with palms and Chinese lanterns. The Lanesborough has been named “Top Tea Place in London” this year for the second time by the UK Tea Council.
As American-born anglophile Henry James wrote in Portrait of a Lady, "There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea ... an eternity of pleasure.” I’ll sip to that.
More About:
Tea ·
London ·
The Ritz ·
Claridge's ·
The Savoy ·
The Lanesborough ·
UK Tea Council ·
clotted cream ·
Long-distance romances ·
Henry James ·
Coleridge
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
The Cotswolds, a region called “The Heart of England”, is a Christmas card come to life. Nestled in the snow are glistening limestone …
James Rosenquist, one of the most successful and revered contemporary artists, spoke of his 1930s North Dakota boyhood -- with no electricity, …
- Arena Stage
- Atlas Performing Arts Center
- Corcoran Gallery of Art
- Dance Place
- Dumbarton Oaks Museum & Gardens
- Folger Shakespeare Library and Theatre
- Ford's Theatre
- Hillwood Museum & Gardens
- John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Library of Congress
- Lincoln Theatre
- National Gallery of Art
- National Museum of American Art
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of Women in the Arts
- National Portrait Gallery
- National Symphony Orchestra
- National Theatre
- Phillips Collection
- Renwick Gallery
- Shakespeare Theatre Company
- Smithsonian Institution
- Strathmore Hall
- Studio Theatre
- TICKETPLACE -- Half-price plus fees day of performance
- Vocal Arts Society
- Warner Theatre
- Washington Ballet
- Washington National Opera
- Washington Performing Arts Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
