Coutts Food: Tea Time in Style

Today we’re all rushing around like the white rabbit in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland shouting, ‘No time, no time’. But then again Carroll was on the right track with the Hatter’s tea party. Because in times of stress, how better to chill out than relaxing over afternoon tea? So, sleepy dormice and March Hare’s aside, where best to have a little indulgence?

Urban or country, there’s a tea room to suit everyone. Tea and its accompanying fancies have come of age. In the popularity stakes it rivals coffee. But coffee is the cup you grab on the run. Tea at tea time is a far more chilled affair. Afternoon tea is a ritual to be enjoyed with friends, an occasion to be savoured. So if its 4pm and you’re ready to relax and recharge, why not head to one of London’s hotels?

If you find yourself on Piccadilly in the West End you’ll be spoilt for choice, because near Green Park there are three excellent tearooms. And if awards mean anything, your first stop should be Brown’s Hotel  on Albemarle Street. That’s because this April they received The UK Tea Council’s highest accolade, the Top London Afternoon Tea 2009 Award. It’s the Michelin star of the tea world.

Two dedicated tea sommeliers will advise on the 17 teas on offer. You can even take home a sample of the blend you've enjoyed.

Brown’s English Tea Room is elegant and luxurious. With exquisite food and friendly service, it epitomises the perfect afternoon tea. Two dedicated tea sommeliers will advise on the 17 teas on offer. You can even take home a sample of the blend you’ve enjoyed. Once chosen it’s just a case of sitting down, listening to the live piano music, and enjoying the delicacies on offer as you give yourself the ultimate treat. There’s freshly baked cakes from the trolley, succulent finger sandwiches, delicate pastries, and fruit and plain scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserve, all for £35. If you’re pushing the boat out, you can add a glass of chilled white or rose Tattinger champagne. Whatever the choice this will be a landmark in your calendar. And if you have visitors in town, it’s the place to show off what British afternoon tea is all about.

Back on Piccadilly is The Ritz , and a couple of doors down The Wolseley .  Both made it onto the Tea Council’s 2009 12 special Awards of Excellence list. While Brown’s has the feel of a comfortable, sumptuous country house, The Ritz is, well, ritzy. They too have a pianist, but there’s a dress code; jackets and ties for men, and no jeans or trainers. A twist on the traditional tea is their chocolate afternoon tea for £45. You can swap tea for drinking chocolate with vanilla chantilly and enjoy any number of cakes and biscuits on the chocolate theme. If you don’t meet the dress requirements there’s always The Wolseley a few steps away. Here the ambience is more relaxed and afternoon tea at £19.75 a less expensive option. But this is nonetheless a treat, and excellent food. As required by the proper traditional afternoon tea, there are finger sandwiches followed by pastries and fruit scones with home made jam and clotted cream. And like Brown’s and The Ritz you would be advised to book ahead.

Given that many a Brit remembers childhood holidays to Cornwall and clotted cream teas, it’s no surprise that a favourite tea place for lots of us is a  National Trust  property where tradition holds sway. The Trust’s historic surroundings are a natural backdrop for this loved treat. And there’s no better setting than Corfe Castle in Dorset. You can enjoy a clotted cream tea or maybe a huge slice of Dorset apple cake in the shadow of the ruins of the 1,000 year old castle. For afters take a peak at the beautiful cottage garden.

The National Trust has more then 140 tea rooms and restaurants, usually located in special historic buildings. So you could be enjoying your toasted teacake in a country manor house, a lighthouse even, or maybe stables. They like to feature local and regional specialities and use ethically traded tea and coffee. Once the meal is over why not enjoy the Trust’s gardens, which are always a focal point wherever you are.

There's no better setting than Corfe Castle in Dorset. You can enjoy a clotted cream tea or maybe a huge slice of Dorset apple cake in the shadow of the ruins of the 1,000 year old castle.

If gardens and tea are your fancy then a trip to Betty’s tea room  at Harlow Carr near Harrogate in Yorkshire is the perfect combination for tea and relaxation. The Royal Horticultural Society’s 58-acre garden is the perfect place to enjoy Betty’s signature fat rascals. This is just one of six Betty’s tearooms in the north, all delivering great taste.

Over in Bradford on Avon is this year’s Tea Guild’s Top Tea Place, the Bridge Tea Rooms . They bring a Victorian elegance. As head of the Guild Irene Gorman commented, “The tea rooms are in a lovely location and are absolutely full of character, charm and atmosphere. The staff are incredibly helpful, courteous and friendly and the choice of tea and home cooked foods … is extremely impressive.” Another plus is they welcome children who can even chose from their own menu.

You may think of traditional afternoon tea as a British invention but our French compatriots have also taken to it. The company Thomas Twining brought tea drinking to Britain in 1706. By the early 1840’s teatime was said to be introduced by Anna the 7th Duchess of Bedford and London’s first Lyons teahouses opened in the 19th century. But the French were drinking tea as early as 1665 when Louis XIV was prescribed it by his doctors for indigestion. By the 1840’s Paris’s tea salons made their first appearances. Today they’re very much in vogue and you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Laduree serve their famous creation, the macaroon, alongside Marie Antoinette tea. Mint tea is de rigueur at the Paris Mosque where you can while away time on red velvet banquettes. There’s Dalloyau , the first patisserie to put gold leaf onto chocolate-topped cakes, the elegant  Fauchon with their own teas with romantic names such as An evening in Paris, and Angelina , probably the most celebrated tea salon in the city.

Back in the UK, if you’re on the move, this year’s new edition of the  Tea Council’s  ‘Afternoon Tea’ will point you in the right direction. It features over 250 places from charming village tea rooms to luxurious hotels. And if you want to recreate the tea experience at home and raise money for charity at the same time, you can join others and hold your own  Blooming Great Tea Party  between 12 June and 12 July. You and your friends can sip tea while helping Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Whatever your choice and wherever you are there can is no better pick-me-up than a shot of tea with a creamy confection. It’s the best antidote to a frazzled lifestyle and extremely tasty too.

By Michele Nevard