Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at Kettners

Words & Photography by Felicity Spector and Luiz Hara

It's a rare joy, afternoon tea. Especially in the dark and gloom of a January evening, when the annoying clatter of detox-fanatics threatens to drown out any thoughts of that simple joy, eating for pleasure. But inside the faded-grandeur of Soho stalwart Kettners, a hidden boudoir swagged in velvet: the Laurent Perrier room.

This is afternoon tea with bling: not just an array of sandwiches, scones and little pastries, but a tasting flight of champagnes, expertly chosen by Laurent Perrier to match each course of food. They're selling it as a chance not just to experience the nuances of flavour - but to try some champagnes that wouldn't normally be within reach.

So along with the usual afternoon tea paraphinalia, there was a special tray holding three glasses, ready for sampling, with Laurent Perrier 'ambassador' Danny Borchert on hand to explain the house style. Think "lightness, freshness and elegance", he declared.

First up, the sandwiches: some decent fillings among them, including chicken, mango and mint and a rather good egg mayonnaise. And the first champagne, a glass of Extra Brut - light and fresh, with just a touch of salt on the finish: an ideal match for those sandwiches.

We moved onto the scone course: I rather like any meal containing a scone course. These would have been even better warm, but were fresh and light, with a slightly sticky strawberry jam and a huge pot of clotted cream. To go with them, what Laurent Perrier calls its iconic champagne - the Cuvee Rose, poured from a magnum. "You should always drink champagne from a magnum", insisted Danny Borchert. "There's less air trapped inside, which keeps it fresher than a bottle".

Kettners does offer magnums of the Cuvee Rose - at around £215 - beyond most budgets. But offering it as part of the afternoon tea flight should make it far more accessible.

The salmon pink fizz glittered prettily in the mellow light: the flavours echo summer fruits, like strawberry and redcurrant, without being overly sweet. An excuse to ladle even more jam onto those scones.

Finally the desserts: a plate piled with delicate creations - a miniature raspberry macaron, a sharp and sweet passion fruit tart, another with strawberry and cream, and my favourite - a millionaire's shortbread which was incredibly messy to eat but worth the effort.

With this, the most expensive champagne of all: you'd need £500 for a whole magnum of the 2004 vintage, made from sun-ripened grapes with a rich, sweet and honeyed flavour, a mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with notes of tropical fruit.

"A wine to be savoured, to enjoy, part of a celebration", said Danny Borchert: on this occasion, a celebration of tiny cakes. In a city with plenty of top-end hotel teas to choose from - this is definitely one for champagne lovers. A taste of vintage luxury, without the need for an oligarch's budget.

The afternoon tea and tasting flight is available at Kettners for £42.50 per person.

Christmas Afternoon Tea at Grosvenor House

Words & Photography by Felicity Spector and Luiz Hara

I was dashing, literally, straight off a flight from California where the sun shone low over the Pacific and my lunch was heirloom, heritage and 100% organic. London, by contrast, was freezing and frenetically busy, but there was the promise of Christmas in the air. And afternoon tea, in Mayfair.

The Grovesnor House, right on Park Lane, was bedecked with festive decorations and a veritable forest of Christmas trees. A five star hotel, it was awarded the Guild of Tea award of excellence in 2013, a true mark of quality and consistent standards.

Thankfully out of the cold, there was a warm welcome inside: getting off to a grand start with a glass of Piper Heidsiek champagne and another containing a refreshing mix of mango juice and tiny cubes of tropical fruit.

There was a good selection of leaf teas, although many came with a £3 supplement: we were happy with our choices of Lady Grey, heady with citrus and bergamot, and a light, fragrant White peony.

Our excellent waitress ferried over a tiered stand of finger sandwiches and little cakes: a festive collection on offer over the Christmas period. The sandwiches were freshly made if a little conventional: prawn, egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon, ham and cucumber - and one with home smoked turkey and a touch of cranberry sauce.

While we waited for scones, we tried some of the patisserie. The red velvet macaron was squidgy and well made, and we also enjoyed the gingerbread white chocolate mousse and a shot glass of whisky pannacotta with plum compote.

A basket of warm, light scones arrived with a choice of jams, which was a nice touch: we chose gooseberry, rhubarb and ginger and raspberry - and it all came with a vast bowl of clotted cream which can only be a good thing.

We were pretty full by this point, but there was a whole table of larger cakes to choose from too: the Red Velvet came highly recommended, and we couldn't resist trying a slice.

A good move, as it turned out: the cake was moist, light and not too sweet, with a generous layer of cream cheese frosting.

The Christmas afternoon tea is available for £39.50 per person, or £50.50 with champagne, reflecting the prices in this part of town. It's a comfortable room with wonderful service - if only the food was a little more adventurous, we'd have come away even happier.

Grovesnor House
86-90 Park Lane, London
0207 499 6363
Afternoon tea can be booked here. 

Fit for Royal Tea - The Afternoon Tea at Hotel Café Royal's Sumptuous Oscar Wilde Bar

Words & Photography by Felicity Spector and Luiz Hara

Everything about the High Society afternoon tea at the Hotel Café Royal screams opulence. First, the room. The Oscar Wilde Bar took four years to restore to its former glory, a rococo extravaganza of gold and mirrors and cherub painted ceilings. It now looks exactly the same as the room where Wilde once lunched, except I've a feeling he didn't fare nearly as well as we did.

To drink, there was Veuve Cliquot champagne and a choice of 21 different teas, some of them exclusive blends made just for the hotel. We tried one of them - Celestine - a subtle, light black tea with a hint of vanilla, and a very refreshing triple mint tisane.

Our maître d' was eager to explain the menu. There was a lot to get through - three pages of my notebook covered in scribble. It all sounded incredible: not a white bread sandwich in sight - the chefs have clearly let their creativity take charge.

An amuse bouche arrived, a 'Low Sidecar Muffin', along with a lovely story about Victorian muffin sellers who used to ply their trade in Regent Street outside. The modern day version came adorned with a generous swirl of truffle cream cheese and a pipette containing apple juice which you could squirt inside. Light and moist, it got things off to a great start.

Then came a vast tiered stand of savoury sandwiches and pastries: a brioche roll with prawn cocktail, and a beautifully crisp gougere filled with goats cheese and the slight sweetness of wine jelly.

There was a roundel of chorizo Wellington, a sort of next level sausage roll, a bun topped with crackling and stuffed with wild boar salami. Next, a toasted bagel piled with silky smooth smoked salmon and horseradish mayo, and my favourite, a beetroot bread sandwich with cream cheese and a sliver of cucumber, topped with caviar.

We were already getting slightly full, but more was to come. Much, much more.

A palate cleanser, a tiny glass of plum and lychee iced tea was tart and refreshing. It came with a mousse like disc of chocolate and hazelnut marshmallow, the first time I've seen chocolate and hazelnut described as a palate cleanser. But why not? It was delicious.
The beaming maître d, who by this stage was beginning to seem like an old, beloved friend, ferried over another vast tier of cakes and pastries, with not one, but two baskets of warm scones. There were dishes of strawberry jam and clotted cream and a tiny bowl of lemon curd. And another three pages of description in my notebook.

I tried a raisin scone, loaded with jam and cream. It was warm. It was melt in the mouth. "Buttery, isn't it!" said our waiter, as more pots of tea arrived. He wasn't wrong.

We tackled the cake stand. A mini flower pot contained a fabulous mix of apple purée and pistachio paste, crowned with a buttery crumble. There was a neat cube of banana opera cake layered with passion fruit cream. Choux buns cradled a hidden filling of lemon curd. There were vivid green macarons, spiked with absinthe, herby and sticky.

I tried a disc of shortbread topped with apple purée, blackcurrant crème and the thinnest chocolate glaze. It was....I searched for a word....buttery. By this point we could barely move, but the feast wasn't over yet. On the counter were three whole cakes which you could order by the slice. Our friendly maître d was desperate for us to try them. "The lemon drizzle is gluten free!" I went over for a look, unable to resist a piece of the hazelnut cake, beautifully light and moist with just enough hazelnut frosting and the crunch of caramelised nuts. And, of course, so very, very buttery.

Four hours after the tea began, I was ensconced in a vast leather chair in the hotel lobby, clutching a takeaway box of the scones we hadn't quite been able to finish, fretting about the rain. A concierge leapt into action, lending me not only a hotel umbrella "oh, bring it back whenever you're in the area..." but also going the extra mile, finding some waterproof covers to protect my new shoes.

The afternoon tea at Hotel Cafe Royal isn't cheap - £42 per person, or £55 with a glass of champagne. But it's opulent. It's inventive. And the staff are all prepared to go above and beyond, to make sure you have the best possible time.

Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester

Words & Photography by Florentyna Leow and Luiz Hara

Name: Afternoon Tea at the Dorchester

Where: The Dorchester, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K1QA

Cost: Afternoon tea is priced at £45 per person, £55 with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Brut NV Champagne or £59 with Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Champagne.

About: Afternoon tea – the mere mention conjures up women in frilly dresses on a garden patio, tiers of little cakes and sandwiches, and the sound of tinkling teacups. Never mind that afternoon tea for most Brits is usually a mug of builder’s tea, and if you’re feeling posh, a rich tea biscuit. In any case, afternoon tea is one of those quintessentially English things that you have to experience. So I was delighted to have the privilege of experiencing the Laurent Perrier Champagne Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester. You can’t get much posher than that!

Thankfully, afternoon tea at The Promenade is far more relaxed than its opulent surroundings would suggest – no ties or suits required, and there were guests in jeans and polo shirts. The 2 ½ hour window is ample time for guests to enjoy a leisurely afternoon nibbling on endless rounds of finger sandwiches and buttery scones.

What We Ate:  The finger sandwiches, made with artisanal bread, were impeccably made. When the waitress arrived with a tray and asked us if we wanted seconds, we couldn’t say no to more chicken and mustard, smoked salmon, and tomato-mozzarella sandwiches. If we hadn’t had dinner waiting for us, thirds, even fourths, would definitely have been possible!

Next was the cream tea – warm, crumbly, buttery scones which we smeared with generous dollops of Cornish clotted cream and their homemade jams, including a very seasonal rhubarb and angelica jam.

We were also presented with a selection of adorable French pastries. In general, these were top-notch examples of patisserie, but two in particular stood out for me.

One was the vanilla panna cotta with a tangy rhubarb centre, which was incredibly light and fresh, almost cloud-like. The other was a passionfruit chocolate tartlet, unexpectedly tangy and delightfully mousse-like.

What We Drank: I tried two Laurent Perrier Champagnes. The Brut NV is delicate in style, with notes of apples, lemon and slight toast, a really elegant wine.  The Brut Rosé comes in a beautiful embossed bottle, and is one of the few rosé Champagnes still made by the traditional but (for the vigneron) hair-raising saignée method which involves leaving the skins of the red grapes in contact with the wine until it is precisely the right shade.  If it is left a few hours too long, the whole batch turns red and has to be discarded.  But the benefit is that the wine keeps a highly expressive bouquet. Made from 100% pinot noir, it has intense notes of red berry fruit and black cherries.

Besides the Champagne, they also offer a generous selection of teas. There’s a tea for everyone: single estate, house-blended, black, caffeine-free, Chinese and Japanese teas. We tried their house-blended Darjeeling and their Paris blend. Both were wonderfully fragrant and delicious.

Likes: I was very pleased with the selection of teas, and the variety of pastries on offer. Service was friendly and attentive. The Champagne was superb, particularly the rosé.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: This is one of those rare animals – a delicious afternoon tea in a beautifully posh yet relaxed setting, whose pleasure is optionally heightened with a glass of lovely Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Highly recommended.