London Calling: Afternoon Tea

I recently had the pleasure of traveling to London for a week’s vacation! When deciding which sites to see and activities to do, one food-related splurge became a priority: I had to take afternoon tea in the country where the ritual originated. I made reservations for the St. James Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason, just outside Picadilly Circus. That stunning specialty food emporium did not disappoint – the experience was everything I wanted it to be, and more!

The tea room was warm, sunlit, and decorated in a soft blue. Plush armchairs and low-lying sofas with embroidered pillows surrounded delicate coffee tables set with the tea service’s china and drinkware. After settling in on the comfortable furniture, we cleansed our palate with brightly-flavored sparkling lemonade and ordered our tea. I enjoyed the strength and full body of the Assam Superb offering.

Next came four categories of delicate gastronomic treats – a plate of canapés followed by a 3-tiered display with sandwiches, scones, and cakes. You may behold the glorious tower below:

• Canapes – asiago breadsticks, pesto breadsticks, salmon crostini topped with roe, and sausage in puff pastry
• Sandwiches – egg salad, curry pasta and raisins on rye, cucumber and watercress on white, chicken and watercress on white, salmon on wheat
• Scones – plain and current scones, madeleines
• Desserts – raspberry jam sandwiched between shortbread, light lemon cake soaked in lemon sauce, vanilla cake topped with vanilla cream and white chocolate, brown sugar puff pastry glazed with confectioners' sugar and filled with custard and raspberries, lemon-almond petit four with blue white-chocolate frosting, sacher torte sans jam topped with gold leaf

My favorite treats, predictably enough, were the desserts, but the scones plus toppings were the best surprise.

Scones as I have known them in America can be a tough sell. More often than not, they are large mounds of floury, heavy dough that can barely redeem themselves via glazes or mixed-in fruit. Fortnum and Mason’s scones, however, were light, fluffy, buttery, and slightly tangy. This made them a treat in their own right, though they became even better with choice accompaniments. We could choose from strawberry jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream. I had to try the pale yellow clotted cream, a traditional British spread whose consistency is between whipped cream and butter. It was excellent when spooned over a dollop of jam! The lemon curd was excellently tart, with none of the cloying sweetness that usually turns me away from the spread.

Afternoon tea is a slow, relaxing, and above all indulgent meal. The richness of these treats gave me a fullness I would usually associate with twice the volume of food. We were so satisfied by the afternoon tea that we didn’t even eat dinner – and, we were able to browse the extensive F&M food halls without needing to sample everything in sight! This special time was one of the highlights of my vacation, and I encourage any visitors to Britain to seek out the same. Cheerio!