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Sunday, December 28, 2008

Tea with the Girls

When I was trying to think of fun things my mom and I could do with our other days off, one of the activities I wanted to plan was to go into Boston for high tea! I love going for tea and I have taken my roommate for her bday and my mom for the past two Mother's Days at various places.

The first time I remember going to tea was when my mom took my cousin and I when we were little (I was probably 7 or 8), and we went to "tea at the Ritz". To me, it's the ultimate fancy fun girls afternoon...you get to dress up, go to these gorgeous old hotels, sip tea from beautiful China, and eat adorable little sandwiches and pastries! At that age at the Ritz, I ordered hot chocolate instead of tea...and let me tell you I still remember how it tasted! Like melted chocolate bars in my cup...amazing.

Now that I am older and LOVE tea (as does my mom...she hate coffee actually)...it's become a fun thing for us to do together. When I suggested it for this weekend she thought it would be even better to get all her sisters and their daughters and my grandmother to all go together! I made a reservation for 16 people at the Park Plaza Hotel (where I took mom for Mother's Day this year).

Unfortunately my grandmother has been feeling sick all week, so she was unable to join in :(

We still had a great time though...

Afternoon Tea at the Park Plaza Hotel

The tea area is at the end of the large lobby which was beautifully decorated for Christmas (click on the picture to see it better)
Their tea service is done in 4 courses...starting with a seasonal cocktail, Holiday NogThis was egg nog, with a little tea infused Cognac....AMAZING!!!

Then they brought out the first tea, Autumn Reverie...all their teas are specially created for the hotel and they even have an on site Tea Sommelier, one of only a handful in the world.

(beautiful china!)
With the first tea came an incredible scone with devonshire cream and jamThere's nothing like a warm scone with those two accompaniments...so good.

The next tea was, Boston First Night, and this came with a tower of sandwiches and pastries. Two of my younger cousins got the children's tea which was very similar but with different sandwiches...

Children's Tea
And the regular tea...this was my mom's and my treat tower to shareThe bottom sandwiches were: egg salad, chicken salad, smoked salmon, and a tea rubbed pork tenderloin (amazing).

The pastries: choc. dipped strawberries, truffles, apple spice cake, pumpkin spice cake, and a petit four (the blue one!).

All of these little treats were starting to make me very full...luckily they let you wrap up any leftovers, and they place your food in tin foil with a twist!It is the "Swan Cafe" after all!

The final tea was the Swan's Grey, which came out with our tea infused creme brulee...creamy and so amazing...I scraped my little cup clean!
We then just sat and chatted for a while, sipping tea, and enjoying the atmosphere

Part of the group...me with some of my cousins on the right and two aunts on the left!
I have such a fun family and feel very lucky!

We are definitely going to do this again so that my grandmother can come...she would of LOVED this. She collects tea cups and is very into this stuff.

Hopefully I can continue having tea reviews every so often, because there are a bunch of other places I want to try in the city.

This was the Park Plaza Hotel, and I would highly recommend it for tea.

Another great tea I went to a couple times was at L'espalier, however I can't comment on how tea would be at their new location. The restaurant used to be located in a gorgeous brownstone right off of Newbury Street...and now it's moved to the new Mandarin Orient Hotel, and I've heard it's much more modern looking. I'm sure the tea is still delicious, but there was nothing like the old atmosphere.

Everyone should experience high tea at some point :)

16 comments:

  1. Aw - what a fun outing! Everything looks so fancy :)

    I love it when they wrap left overs like that!

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  2. oh wow, looks like quite the experience, i've never done anything like that!!

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  3. What a fun time with the ladies. I love going for tea, there is something so dignified and lady-like about it!

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  4. That totally looks like a wonderful experience! Something different yet really fun!

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  5. O wow, that looks like the best way to spend an afternoon

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  6. That looks like so much fun. What a beautiful place.

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  7. This is soo fun! OMG I love teas- I've been to one :D haha...i love the little mini-everythings. AND that you got to take some home! The younger girls must have loved it!

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  8. o0o the hotel is beautiful!!

    each course looked fab but I think the first would've been my fave :) yum.

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  9. hey girls - you need to change the setting so the maximum heart rate is 199 (highest it will go). also, you might want to turn the sound off - also on the setting tab. i think its annoying when it goes off if the monitor slips or you start to walk.

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  10. What a fun day! Your pics are great!

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  11. I've never been to a tea before. that looks like so much fun. I know theres a tea house near where I live taht does this sort of thing, what a great way to sepnd time with Grandma and Mom, I'll have to pick a special occasion and set it up. Thansk for the wonderful idea.

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  12. that is so lovely looking.
    Ive never been and CANT WAIT to bring my toddler when she's a bit older.

    white gloves donned and all.

    MizFit

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  13. wow - what an incredible tea room!

    we go every mother's day too w/ my mom & grandmom... the tea room we go to is quiet small though, nothing as beautiful as yours!

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