Dining dainty for National Afternoon Tea Week 2021
Afternoon tea has seen something of a revival in the last year or two. Lockdown did nothing to deter that as home delivered teas became de rigeur – a treat that can still be enjoyed at home or out in the garden, should weather permit.
August 9 to 15 sees National Afternoon Tea Week, giving us all an excuse to dine on dainty sandwiches followed by crumbly scones with jam and thick swirly cream, all washed down with tea in china cups, or maybe a prosecco or two.
There are tearooms and restaurants countrywide that offer their own styled afternoon tea, whether in pretty villages, off city streets or in hotels and seaside resorts.
It’s a happy indulgence that brings together friends and families for a catch-up, a bit of a treat or a special occasion celebration.
One way to partake is at a table with a seascape, as in the the vintage Seaview Orangery of the Victoria Hotel, Robin Hoods Bay, North Yorkshire, which includes classic sandwich combos like cream cheese and cucumber, or prawn and marie rose, alongside cakes and fancies, and scones and cream.
In the same part of the world, the magnificent Raithwaite Sandsend near Whitby has an Indulgent Afternoon Tea for real foodies. A celebration of local produce, it includes Slow Roast Yorkshire Ham and Whitby Fortune’s Kipper Pate with Rhubarb Chutney, Yorkshire Curd Tart and Earl Grey Cake with Icing made with Heather Honey from the North York Moors – all served from their chic new bar, or stylish restaurant.
For something different, teas are sometimes themebased, from Alice in Wonderland, to Wind in the Willows.
One such tea in London is the Aqua Shard’s Peter Pan Afternoon Tea. Gaze across the city, sip on a Fairy Dust cocktail, enjoy The Lost Boys chicken and bacon sandwiches, and sample Tinker Bell cakes with their sprinkle of gold fairy dust.
With the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Afternoon
Tea at One Aldwych, creations are inspired by Roald Dahl’s much-loved book with ‘Not-quite-as-it-seems salmon and beetroot macaron’, ‘Blue as a blueberry chocolate tart’ and scones with ‘snozzberry jam’.
Teas can be sciencebased, or coupled with activities such as walking alpacas.
An afternoon tea experience can be historic, as with the one offered at England’s only luxury hotel in a Tudor castle, on the edge of the Cotswolds.
At Thornbury Castle Hotel they serve finger sandwiches, home-made biscuits and cakes, and scones with clotted cream and jam, within walls once graced by Henry Vlll and Anne Boleyn.
The whole tea tradition began when Anna Maria Russell, seventh Duchess of Bedford, asked her footman to bring her a pot of tea with light refreshment one afternoon
in 1840. It then became a ritual adopted by high society and has stood the test of time.
Cornish afternoon teas are renowned because of the clotted cream that is synonymous with that part of the country.
In Edinburgh at The Scottish Cafe and Restaurant their version includes Cucumber and Katy Rodgers Crowdie, Isle of Mull Cheddar and chutney and Ramsays of Carluke smoked ham with mustard on sandwiches, followed by a cheese scone with Heatherfield smoked salmon, a fruit scone with jam and creme fraiche, and petit fours.
It’s not just the extravagance or the delicious food that makes an afternoon tea so special. It needs company and time, now making it an experience that may need a ‘special reservation’ in restaurants and cafes.