AFTERNOON OF indulgence

How much is too much to pay for the ritual of a glamorous afternoon tea? I would say that $80 per person is a steal for Auckland’s newest offering, available this month and next at Wynyard Quarter’s Park Hyatt Auckland. The five-star hotel has swapped out its regular high tea menu for the Valrhona Afternoon Tea, a special collaboration with Park Hyatt Sydney, created by Valrhona’s master chocolatier, Guillaume Lopvet, and Park Hyatt Auckland’s executive pastry chef, Callum Liddicoat.

High tea has become the domain of hotels and Auckland has more than its fair share of offerings, from the remote Waitakere Resort & Spa surrounded by the lush, green native rainforest of the Waitākere Ranges, to the various luxury hotels in the central city.

But not all of them can boast a four-course menu designed to showcase this premium French brand, which is considered by professional chefs as the crème de la crème of fine chocolate.

So what does $80 get you? As well as a wide variety of actual teas, from kawakawa or nettle to your standard English breakfast, proceedings kick off with a pair of delicate pastries – a choux with yoghurt labneh, tomato jam and basil, and a tartlet with yellowfin tuna, avocado, chilli and cucumber.

Though small in stature, there is nothing modest about the flavour combinations of each, likewise with the second course of sandwiches with a twist, of course, on roasted chicken, smoked salmon and smoked ham.

The third course is where Valrhona comes into its own. Presented on a wheel-like dish are servings of sweet treats – a dark chocolate sablé and ganache creation; a milk chocolate delight with a sobacha roasted buckwheat crunch base, mango vanilla confit and fresh mango; and a jasmine tea roll cake with citrusy yuzu flavours. All three are insanely good and it’s impossible to pick a favourite.

The centrepiece, on a round dish that makes up the centre of the “wheel”, is a raspberry crémeux with a sablé base, topped with fresh strawberries and a consommé on the side, added at the table for extra flair.

It’s back to tradition with course four – a scone – but made with vanilla and buttermilk with an oat crumble top, and a zingy brioche doughnut, with vanilla cream pâtissèrie and passionfruit curd. Both are served with jam and cream on the side, but taste more than fine without.

Not that we could finish more than a nibble of each. As well as full tummies, we left with a little takeaway box.

Worth $80? You betcha.

Park Hyatt Auckland has decked out its regular afternoon tea menu in a collaboration with luxury chocolate brand Valrhona. Shandelle Battersby puts it to the test.