Dorchester Collection launches convivial new Afternoon Tea menus
Dorchester Collection’s hotels have introduced a variety of fun new tea menus, adding unique touches to the classic five-star afternoon tea experience. Special highlights at each iconic hotel include:
The Dorchester
The Dorchester is celebrating its annual Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea with entertainment by the English National Ballet School’s youth dancers. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, characters including the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse and Alice herself will be pirouetting through the hotel’s Promenade bringing the magical tale to life.
Available from Monday, October 28 to Friday, November 1, the menu includes a selection of Alice in Wonderland inspired cakes, savoury finger sandwiches and homemade scones and pastries. The tea is priced at £51 per adult including a glass of champagne, £30 for children aged 5 to 11, and £1 for every booking will be donated to Cancer Research UK.
A Vintage Afternoon Tea is also available on The Balcony at The Dorchester with a menu of open finger sandwiches, traditional English cakes and warm scones with homemade jam, lemon curd, and Cornish clotted cream. The menu is accompanied by teas served in a vintage Minton china set and a glass of Laurent Perrier Vintage 2004. The Vintage Afternoon Tea is priced at £51 per person.
Coworth Park
Until 31 October, Dorchester Collection’s luxury country house hotel, Coworth Park, is offering guests a Meadow Tea inspired by the view from The Drawing Room of the hotel’s wildflower meadow. Fragrant hand-blended teas and cordial made from estate-grown elderflower accompany a selection of finger sandwiches, pastries and scones with homemade compotes of apricot–lavender and plum-hibiscus. Teas include the Gertrude Jekyll blend, created in honour of the renowned British horticulturist.
Available in the afternoons and upon request, guests can accompany Coworth Park’s head of gardens, Terri Crow, for a walk around the grounds. Terri will talk through the history and inspiration behind the Lime Avenue, Sunken Garden, Kissing Cages, Ornamental Terraces and the Wildflower Meadow.
The Meadow Tea is priced at £26 per person or £39 per person for the Champagne Meadow Tea.
Le Meurice
Le Meurice has launched Tea Time at Le Dali Restaurant with a pastry buffet on display, available from 3.30pm to 6pm every day. Created by new head pastry chef, Cédric Grolet, it includes scones with clotted cream and jam, delicate finger sandwiches and a selection of creative pastries. Highlights include the Rubik’s Cake and a Little Rum Baba. A new selection of cookies is also available each month as the hotel leads up to its first ever Cookie Festival in December. To accompany the tea, guests can choose from a wide range of hot drinks including Guanaja and Caribbean cocoa hot chocolate.
Tea Time au Champagne is also available with the addition of Champagne Cuvée Rosé Laurent-Perrier or White Brut Champagne Deutz, as well as a Tea Time Fleur de Thé, where the tea is served in a transparent teapot with a flower blooming inside. Prices for the new tea menus start at €46 (approx. £39).
Hôtel Plaza Athénée
Hôtel Plaza Athénée offers guests a variety of tea blends to accompany delicacies by world famous pastry chef Christophe Michalak. A trolley displaying a selection of traditional Parisian sweets is presented to the guests in La Galerie des Gobelins. Signature pastries include salted caramel cream puffs, vanilla millefeuille, and La Provencale pastry made with strawberries, olive oil and apricots. Pastries cost €18 (approx. £15) each.
Le Richemond
Le Richemond in Geneva will re-launch the Ski Tea in time for the forthcoming season. Regional gruyere flavoured scones and sandwiches are served with steaming mugs of hot chocolate made with local Swiss chocolate, marshmallow filled coconut snowballs and chocolate fondue. The Ski Tea is priced from 50 CHF per person.
Hotel Principe di Savoia
Hotel Principe di Savoia is offering guests a wide selection Tea Menu created by expert tea stylist and food consultant Francesca Natali, which includes a variety of evening teas. The selection of teas includes two blends exclusively created for the hotel: the Blue Black, a Yunnan black tea with cornflowers, and the Fleur de Bamboo, a refreshing herbal tea with bamboo leaves, pomegranate flowers and hints of apple, pineapple and mint. Both teas are priced at €15 (approx. £13) and available at Il Salotto.
The Beverly Hills Hotel
The recently re-opened Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel has reintroduced its
Afternoon Tea menu with the addition of a tea expert, available on Fridays and Saturdays from 3pm to 5pm. Alongside a selection of traditional and exotic teas are savoury canapés including smoked salmon mousse, chicken salad on marble rye bread, and fig and blue cheese mousse. Following this, guests can enjoy freshly baked scones and a variety of cakes including brie cheesecake with graham cracker crust and a chocolate pistachio roulade.
The Afternoon Tea costs $40 (approx. £26) per person, or $55 (approx. £35) per person with a glass of Piper-Heidsieck Champagne.
Hotel Bel-Air
In addition to its existing traditional Afternoon Tea, Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air has introduced the Little Royals Tea for children. This tailored menu includes herbal teas; child-friendly savoury bites such as a croque monsieur sandwiches; scones and cookies. Children will also receive a surprise gift from Hotel Bel-Air.
The Little Royals Tea is priced at $35 (approx. £23) for children and the traditional
Afternoon Tea for adults is priced at $60 (approx. £38)
Dorchester Collection
Dorchester Collection is a portfolio of the world’s foremost luxury hotels in Europe and the USA, each of which reflects the distinctive culture of its destination. By applying its unrivalled experience and capability in owning and operating some of the greatest individual hotels, the company’s mission is to develop an impeccable group of the finest landmark hotels through acquisition as well as management of wholly-owned and part-owned hotels, and to enter into management agreements.
The current portfolio includes the following hotels (in order of them joining the group): The Dorchester, London; The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills; Le Meurice, Paris; Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris; Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan; Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles; Coworth Park, Ascot, UK; 45 Park Lane, London; and Le Richemond, Geneva.
For more information, visit dorchestercollection.com.
