Tea Time in Wonderland

Posts Tagged ‘gou-the / tea o’clock’

If you read Elle or are a Eurostar fan, you obviously know of the macaron craze in France. These little treats are as usual these days as a real croissant. We have them as a treat when we need a reward, a gouter with girlfriends after an afternoon shopping, we serve them as a desert or with tea and coffee. They’re a natural part of any celebration.

When I was 18, a macaron was a regional treat. Very often, those would have originally bakes andsold by nuns, then a specific recipe become a trademark of a village, a town. The basis remains the same – egg white, sugar and almond powder. In St-Emilion, my region, the best place to enjoy them is an old cloister garden, sitting in the golden sunshine, dipping them in the local sparkling wine. Heaven.

Of course, Paris would make it more glamourous, more stylish, more… everything. Instead of one biscuit, they use two, add a little ganache or creamy filling in between. Tadaa. They come in a variety of colours too, pop-art or tender, like sweet confettis in your day.

Laduree was the first place to set the trend. THE place to get your macarons from, in exquisite collectable boxes. And of course, they have two addresses in London too. Unfortunately, I find they are too marketing-directed these days, the filling is a bit too heavy, the creations not so suprising anymore.

An ex-pastry chef from Laduree, Pierre Herme has taken them to the next level. Light a a cloud, innovative and exquisite taste. Bi-colours as well to add a little party effect.  Even better, he created a coeur de ganache – the sweet cream hides the treasure of a different flavour. I marvel each time (and believe me, I have tried an incredible number of those).

He has now opened an ephemeral boutique @ Selfridge’s and will open a proper shop in Knightbride summer-time. This is going to be such a hit!

You’ll find some traditional flavour – first quality ingredients, for sure. But I’m amazed by his latest combinations.

Try the Imagine - green tea matcha and black sesame. Oh, to die for. Even some grilled sesame seeds on top to add a little texture.

And the Fragola - basalmic vinear with creme fraiche with a heart of strawberry. You first thought is to feel realy unsure about this. The first bite give you such a smooth feeling that you get hooked until you find the sweet strwaberry and discover, that you have finished the treat in 15 seconds. You’re hooked.

Another marvel is the Magnifique - wasabi and stawberry, who else would have dares this? Not agressive a taste at all, more lemony than expected, and the strawberry center, well, it just melts you away.

Go on and put your tastebuds in  heaven!

Pierre Herme boutique
Selfridge’s
400 Oxford Street
London W1A 1A

£8 for4 macarons

Whenever my stomach start grumbling, I inevitably go back to Wardour St. Such a choice in that street! Will it be… Yauatcha‘s dimsums? Flavoured rice @ Busaba Eathai? Finger-licking humus @ Hummus Bros? Cupcakes @ Hummingbird‘s newest branch?

…or will I just rush to Princu’s, a fabulous Milanese bakery?

You will, like most passers-by, stop in your tracks and look through the windo at the bakers at work, or loaded with brownies, pannatones…

Just jump in! The choice there is incredible… Entire trays of fruit tarts, delicious cheesecake, olive foccacias, huge portions of Italian salads, scrumptious ricotta and spinach rolls… For a fairt price too. You can have lunch there for less than £10 and without the usual restaurant 12.5% service charge.

So delicious, you’ll just have to come back the following day to try some more.

Don’t forget to take some of their fragrant bread home with you (made with organic flour)!

Princi
135 Wardour St
Soho
London
W!F 0UF

Snow, icy rain, a ray of sunshine? Just get a hazelnut hot chocolate at the nearest Starbucks and off you go!

- Play the culture card with the latest Van Gogh exhibition…

- Knit yourself a scraf while enjoying a lovely cup of tea…

- dream of a long gone Covent Garden…

- try an afternoon tea – new style…

- Hunt for art deco @ the decorative antique fair…

- Take a garden fan to the potato fair!

- Get your 70ies outfit for the projection of Mamma Mia on a giant screen @ the O2…

- Toast the famous Scottish poet Burns…

- sprinkle with some alternative art…

You’ll find me @ the Underground restaurant Friday evening for curious experiences… What are your plans?

Allergic to technology? The mention of Html leaves you blank-faced?

Try the Decode exhibition @ the V&A. Code lines transform into colourful works of art, recreating themselves constantly in elegant curves… waves reacting to visitors’ movements… You can even have a ghostly picture of yourself projected.

A fab place for kids, really. Many presentations are interactive – like this tree reacting to the wind blowing outside the museum and shedding its leaves of light on the floor – shuffle through them. The best one certainly is this canvass on which you can project splashes of colours just by making your hands dance… Highly enjoyable, whether you’re a two year old od a full grown maestro. Alternatively, play with the 3D model of a city or carress the LED reeds that will light up as you brush past them….

Modern but enchanting – @ £5.90, a lovely occasion to experiment electronic poetry. Ideal with kids. Especially as with this 2 for 1 offer until January 31!

You might as well stop for a cupcake too @ the Hummingbird bakery, close to the tube station. Or maybe you won’t be able to resist Ben’s cookies, with their melting chocolate chips… (just at the exit of the tube station)

Decode
V&A
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL

Until April 11, 2010
£5 / adult

My friend Benoit is going back to Paris shortly. He hasn’t experienced an afternoon tea yet! It’s hard to find one at the last minute, a quality one usually needs to be booked 2 months in advance. We thought we’d take a chance and step in the Athenaum – a five star hotel, rewarded this year by the Tea Guild Award of Excellence. This sounds promising and the tearoom does not look overwhelmed with customers.

I’m not sure we have any table left…

We point at one behind the young woman. Two free seats. Confused, she asks us to sit down.

We ask for the afternoon tea menu. The waitress brings one  for two – so much easier to choose… but this only shows alcohol and cocktails. We call her back, she exchanges it for the correct one. For some reason, it is not possible to have one per person.

We select the Mistletoe afternoon tea – £34, usual price for such a standing.

Tea arrives, served in silver teapots, lovely China cups, refined flavours.

Here comes the Golden Fizz cocktail. The side of the flute is sticky as if it hadn’t been cleaned properly. Mmmmh.

A larger table is available, we are asked whether we would like to move. We’re delighted. However it proves to be close to the entrance with icy air coming in when the hall door is opened. A cup of tea gets cold within two minutes. We adapt.

The waitress brings a plate of sandwiches: roast Turkey and Seasonal Berry Chutney; Honey Roast Ham with Red Onion Marmalade; Free Range Egg and Cress; Scottish Smoked Salmon and Cucumber with Cream Cheese. I am asked to choose. I’m surprised – the whole set has always been included in the upmarket afternoon teas I have tested before. I ask one of each. I’m even more perplex when I notice a whole plate being offered to a nearby customer without asking him to select anything. These are nice enough, each finger sandwich having a different kind of bread.

15 mn pass. Ah, here is a tower of treats. First level: an elegant scoop of clotted cream. Second level: two servings of jam, a strawberry and a blueberry one. The menu stated “mixed berry and vanilla jam”. Mmmm? Which other berries? Which vanilla or is it incredibly discreet? How come the top of the jam is so solid it comes away with the spoon? How long has it been sitting in this bowl? Third level: three tiny scones -  cranberries and spices, well baked, tender and fragant, the highlight of the tea.

Another 15mn. Again, I am asked to choose from a selection of cakes. To my knowledge there is no “or” in the menu. And the portions are small – understandable and usual for a selection, not if you are to select only one. I request one of each. Ok, but nothing transcending. A slice of chocolate yule log. A tasty mince pie. A star shaped shortbread, each branch dipped in white chocolate, sprinkled with dried tasteless strawberries. A snowflake cupcake: that size actually is referred to as a fairycake. A dollop of icing, not enough to cover the cake, a little coconut. Not much taste to it. I know where to find better ones! I actually can cook better ones!

That’s when our waitress suddenly disappears. We chat, we finish our tea. We grap our coat – it’s getting chillier as the temperatures drop outside. Most customers have left. Some arrive and ask for dinner.

40mn wait. I am now pretty fed up, ask a waiter for the rest of the afternoon tea. He brings an extra teapot and a plate of pastries. An ok stollen cake, a cupcake and a mince pie (already got those), mini chocolate Santas in foil paper – supermarket treats? – a hard marshmallow dipped in chocolate.

The Aberfeldy Single Malt Whisky Fruit Cake and the candy canes are nowhere to be seen. I’m pregnant, tired, annoyed and really cold. I ask for the teacake and crumpet which were supposed to arrive between the stollen and the chocolate santas. The waiter tries to bluff his way: oh, we usually bring them last. Sure. Entirely credible. Nice try.

Here they come. Only half a toasted teacake and a crumpet. Both lukewarm. The butter will not even melt on them! The crumpet is still cold inside…

I just want to be out of here. We arrived at 16h30, it is now 18h45. I ask for the bill, refusing to pay for the service. No one will bother asking why. No sign of a manager. Not even an excuse or a compensation. This is a joke of a 5* service.

The quality of the food is nowhere close to luxury. Neither is the service. Since when are the customers cold in such a place? Left aside to wait and check what should be on the menu? On what is this Tea Guild of Excellence based, exactely? We definitely haven’t had the same experience.

This was Benoit’s first experience of an afternoon tea. And of a palace.  He’s not likely to try it again.  What a dispappointing time!

You want to impress a lover, a mother in law? Stay away from this address. Prefer Yauatcha. It will not be a 5* but at least the service is correct, the treats exquisite, the wow effect really close to luxury and the portions bigger: one of their scones is bigger and tastier than the 3 presented here. Oh, and it costs £10 less.

A definite lack of elegance, taste and care towards the customer.

The Athenaeum
116 Piccadilly
Mayfair
London W1J 7BJ

Fancy popping up @ the Sketch anytime but hate ever having to wait?

Try their new pop-up room in parallel of Earth, the new show of the Royal Academy of Art. Cute little boutique, elegant as the parlor is, aceent put on recycling, sustainable products, do and mend, turning unused objects into art, and the little crazyness touch we love so much in them. Of course your favourite treats will be there. You can even enjoy breakfast, lunch and tea-time.

A pity though – there is a canteen side to it: plastic cutlery, cardboard plate, not even a glass with your fruitjuice. Recyclable, for sure, nice touch but you lose the golden side of the place in a few steps. Same enthusiasm as ever looking at the jewel-cakes… but somehow they’re a little less savoury once you step away from the sparkly counter.

However, if you have a sweet tooth, this won’t stop you. What wouldn’t one do out of curiousity for a brioche-camenbert-green apple jelly? Or a pear tarlets with fruit infused in a cucurma syrup?

A little smarter, you can also choose to enjoy oysters on the external terrasse. Hot water bottle are on the side!

Pop-up Sketch cafe

In the building hosting Haunch of Venison, at the back of the main entrance for the Royal Academy of Art
6 Burlington Gardens
Royal Academy of Arts
London W1S 3ET
Until Jan 03, 2010

Paris is famous for turning pastries, cakes and sweets into an artistic competition. As for haute-couture, we have winter and summer seasons for our patisseries, you see. The chefs will create amazing combinations, as gorgeous looking as tasting. No fshionista would resist the trendiness of it.

A true Parisian would rush to the Sketch. This famous restaurant also has a funky tearoom. You probably will have to wait a little while for a table but the decoration and the fashion there is worth the wait. Actually, you probably will not even notice the wait, hypnotised as you are.

Mismatched cups, plates still create a colourful harmony. Pierre Gagnaire and his team have come up with dream-like deserts – gets quite tricky to choose and they’re only £5 (you can also buy them and take them back home)! There is tea of course but the choice of coffee also is excellent and this is such a change. The Jamaican blue Mountain will win your heart – £8 served in a tall cafetiere.

Love at first bite:

-  The best macarons in town. Forget Laduree (the service is not always that good and I often seem to know their new products better than the staff)

- Lunette : even just for its Guinness jelly, that goes so well with the tarness of the blackcurrant but also makes you feel like a stout rather than a refined tea. A welcome revolution in your 5 o’clock tea!

- Mendiant eclair : I switched from being a macaron addict to being an eclair addict. The French traiteur Fauchon has a collection of salted and sweet ones to die for. And this one is a little wonder. Your mouth will be full of soothing creamy caramel.You’ll even close your eyes. A thin layer of white chocolate on top, on which are balanced caramelised nuts.

Fancy a last Wonderland touch? The toilets…

Choose from…

Or will you prefere the egg version? Each cocoon proposes a different music theme. Classical, countryside like…

Not only a sweet pause – entertainement in itself!
The only negative note – the service is very kind but sometimes a bit slow.

Sketch
9 Conduit Street
London
W1S 2XG

Let’s meet @ Yauatcha for more treats!

The afternoon tea is the British tradition I savour most. London particularly provides such a choice of them -  each 5* hotel proposing his own, adding a different signature.

Sometimes though, I get fed up with scones and clotted cream or cucumber sandwiches at 5 o’clock. Silver teapots and little finger in the air do take a toll. I feel like painting the white cups fushia.

Yauatcha probably is my best refuge in London. Bless them, they propose two versions – a classical and an Asian one. The deco is modern and colourful, the collection of teas is to die for.

And the three-tier-serving stand is a painting of its own. Miniature treats at each level. A feast not only for the eyes. Lovley selection of  dimsums, ones with barbecued pork, another with venison – oh what a taste! And a collection of mini-pastries, half French, halsf Japanese, ganaches mixed with passionfruit, litchee jelly with whole raspberries, macaroons with a fragrant filling… Pause between two mouthfuls to have a bite of the splendidly presented exotic fruit. Great idea -  not only is this an idela palate cleanser but it does help exploring more level of savour in the sweets. You’ll struggle to eat them all: the tastes are so rich, so full that you feel wholly satisfied.

You ask for the bill. The waitress looks a bit upset: don’t you worry, your scones will be there in a minute. Scones? Oh, that won’t be manageable! But here they are, artisticaly folded in a crispy white napkin, their perfume enticing you to come closer. Eat me…! Of course you will – nice chance to have mascarpone than clotted cream and tea jelly too. And what a revolution! Green tea, coconut an chocolate chipped scones. Very light, very much make an impression on you. The last ones particularly would deserve to be sold in the shop -  I would get a load of them every week-end.

Really can’t eat anything else? Not to worry, Yauatchea is well prepared and will place the leftover sones in a colourful bag for you to take home. What a luxury breakfast the following morning!

Are you a fan lover? Try Lady Gray’s heavenly ones!

Yauatcha
15-17 Broadwick Street
London W1F 0DL
www.yauatcha.com
£25

I find the idea of an underground restaurant fascinating. these super cluns as they are called in the US are operated in someone’s home rather than the more rigid frame of a high street restaurant. Let alone the mystery factor (the address remains secret), its pop-up impact (you never know for sure whether there will be a next time or not), the trendy curiousity for it (you’ll have to be quick to book a seat, it sells so quickly!) and of course its originality (many have themed menus and sometimes themed evenings too).

16 different addresses in London, where to start?

Well, if you want a So British touch, try the Hidden Tea Room – not only are Lady Gray and her husband incredibly welcoming but they will serve you a montain of treats. More than you can eat, really, but no way to resist it, you’ll find a way…

I wasn’t feeling so sure when I stepped in the building. I mean, I was about so spend a whole afternoon in an unkown flat, with a bunch of total strangers. This could be a very long Sunday… I stand corrected. The fact only that you’re there puts you in the Love London /curious about life / sweet toothed category, same goes for the other guests. The glass of bubbly you are offered as soon as you step in is enough to get everyone chatting, exchanging addresses and comparing experiences. I do not recall a single minute of silence. A very rich human experience.

The dining room is simple and elegant – lovely black and white theme. The only colours come from the rainbow collection of cooking books oon the shelves which already have you drooling in anticipation.

And the feast begins… Extraordinary cheddar and chives biscuits, melting, warm, a touch of salted butter. To die for. You could beg for the recipe (and I am convinced some have). Nice American twist to the Afternoon Tea! It’s worth coming just for those, believe me. The traditional finger sandwiches – crunching cucumber, turkey and cranberry, ham and cheese….- do not stay long piled in your plate either.

Fab card for teas too – clearly, they take tea as seriously as I do. Classic ones, Darjeeling, Earl Grey… but also rooibos, a very fragrant Ooling with notes of watermelon and intriguing discoveries that will make your decision toufh: choco-truffle or choco-mint? A huge teapot is brought per person – enough for the whole meal but should you finish it, you will be asked whether you’d like a top-up…

Great idea to have a palate cleanser too – a scoop of very refreshing mango and pineapple sorbet – ideal dose, bright orange colour that can only make you smile in happiness. For now it is scones time people! Nature or with raisins, loads of them. Fluffy, light, just out of the oven… the best I have had since Yauatcha’s chocolate chipped ones. The menu should actually warn you: hughly addictive! Come the Monday, you’ll be sitting at work sighing, dreaming of a cup of Assam with a scone, the clotted cream melting on it, a dollop of blueberry preserve (much nicer than the usual strawberry)…

They could have stopped here – the guest already are more than staified with a huge grin on their face. This is a pure celebration of delights – toffee brownies to die for (how did she get this perfect melting heart?), tangy lemon drizzle cake, sugary shortbreads (should I dip them in the tea? or not? Oh well, I’ll just have two and compare). Of course there will be cucpakes, cream cheese frosting, my favourite, a very light but still chocolatey cake. i can’t help but considering for a moment grabbing the dish and running away with them. But then again, i would miss the jasmine tea – elegant bubble of tea leaves opening on a bright flower as it infuses – and the delicate tea truffle which ganache fills your mouth. The conversatio at that point reduces to a general mmmmmmh.

Lady Gray and her husband can finally put their apron aside and enjoy some time with us, discuss their underground experience, their vision of afternoon teas, their adventures. we have so many questions for them! Bravo to this adorable couple whose enthusiasm (and treats, let’s be honest) just makes the world a better place. You really feel you have spent an afternoon with friends not complete strangers.

Another way to live the Afternoon tea which gives it back its social dimension while still being finger licking good.

Hopefully Lady Gray will get a chance of publishing her recipe book – she’s writing it at the moment. We’re all waiting for this (pleeeeease put the scones recipe in!)

Hidden Tea Room
www.hiddentearoom.com

Check the list of underground restaurants around the world on SaltShaker’s web site.

Another rainy week-end ahead… Smile! Just take your umbrella on an adventure…

Here’s to put you in the mood:

- The Portobello Winter festival starts this wednesdau and will have thematic nights every Wednesday till Xmas

- Don’t forget to get prepared for those Xmas parties and meals: celebrate Thanksgiving!

Feeling better? Here’s for the week-end:

- Head for the new pop-ups before they blow away with the fashion wind… Nes-cafe @ Liberty and the famous Parisian Colette on Brick Lane

- Need your weekly dose of street art? Hoorray! Mutate opens its doors again @ Portobello.

- Even Damien Hirst is back @ the White Cube Gallery. It’s still time to see his No love lost @ the Wallace collection

- Spendid news pictures @ The Royal Festival Hall…

- Alternatively hum Only you @ Proud Chelsea… Great pics of a young Elvis.

- Kids will find happiness in Covent Garden – there will be a real reindeer to pat Saturday afternoon. Parents will probably prefer the amazing jewel exhibition that flashes magic lights under UVs…

You’ll find me @ the Secret Cinema… and having an underground afternoon tea. What’s YOUR program?