Afternoon Tease : It Might Spoil Your Dinner, but Who Can Resist These Lavish Spreads In and Out of London

As we entered the quiet elegance of the Dorchester Hotel’s outer lobby, I paused a minute to slip my flat walking shoes into my tote and don my dressier heels. The day was humid and the cool, soft greens of the lobby were soothing to my lagging spirits. I sank into a plump, cushioned sofa and ordered the Dorchester blend, which was billed on the menu as: “Grown in Sri Lanka . . . a broken orange pekoe tea with a delicate flavour and delicious bouquet.” A short time and a few scones later, totally refreshed, we left the comfort of the Dorchester for a leisurely stroll along Hyde Park.

Afternoon tea in England is like that, as I was about to find out.

Growing up, I thought all families took tea. Not a full afternoon tea, maybe, but at the very least, a bit of bread and jam served with a “cuppa” when school was out for the day.

For my mother, who was born in Scotland, afternoon tea was normal and traditional. And for my sister and me, it was an honor to be asked to be “mother” for the afternoon and pour the tea. Just handling the equipage of silver sugar tongs and tea strainer transported us to another, faraway place.

It did not surprise any of our family and friends, then, when in 1992 my sister, Gail Jiles, and I began writing and publishing Mary Mac’s (for MacIntyre) TeaTimes newsletter, which is dedicated to afternoon tea and named for our mother. Its success led to requests from many of our 3,000 readers to plan a tea tour to England, the birthplace of afternoon tea.

And so early last summer, my sister and I packed our suitcases, left our families and flew off to England in search of the perfect pot of tea.

We based our exploration in London but also reached out to two other places that are rich in tea culture. One of them was Devonshire, home of the cream tea. The other was a train trip northeast to Norwich for a visit to Norwich Castle--home of the Twining Teapot Gallery.

After a 3 1/2-hour ride on an unusually hot and steamy day, we arrived in Norwich and found the free public mini-bus that makes the short trip from the train station up the hill to Norwich Castle where the teapot museum is housed. Although the gallery is not large, perhaps 25 feet in length, it contains a collection of more than 2,000 ceramic teapots--what is thought to be the greatest collection of British teapots in the world. (The entrance fee is about $3.)

The shapes, colors and designs were astonishing in their variety and many were hand-painted. One we saw was Wedgwood blue with cameos. Another had a handle made of a little white swan. There was one shaped like a lion’s head; another was an Aladdin’s lamp of cobalt blue porcelain; another in the shape of a fish. Committed tea enthusiasts like us would find this museum, and the pretty little castle in which it sits, well worth a day’s trip.

On our return to London we discussed tea history, while we plotted our next few days. Although the British aristocracy had been drinking tea from China since the mid 1600s, afternoon tea with sandwiches did not become popular in England until the 1700s when it was created by royalty as a snack between lunch and dinner. In exploring this history, high on our list of places to visit was the Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum on the Tower-of-London side of the Thames River near Tower Bridge.

Edward Bramah, who still holds court in his museum and loves to talk tea with visitors, was a tea and coffee executive who collected tea-related artifacts around the world, including Africa and Asia where he lived and worked. His modest museum houses his own fascinating collection of tea and coffee memorabilia, including antique tea pots and accouterments (mote spoons--slotted spoons used to remove tea leaves from cups--tea caddies, tea urns) and a wide variety of teapots that were purchased by Bramah or given to him as gifts over the past 40 years. There is a small gift shop and cafe where tea is sold both packaged and freshly brewed, although never from tea bags, which Bramah told me contributed to the downfall of the Empire. (I think he was kidding.)

Like Bramah’s museum, Fortnum and Mason has a most serious attitude toward tea. They sometimes offer special clients a service that analyzes samples of local tap water and offers recommendations about the type of tea that blends best. They even sell a tea designed to complement New York City water. I guess the rest of us must content ourselves with brewing our tea the proper way, with bottled or other high quality water.

Buying tea on the ground floor of Fortnum and Mason’s food court is almost a dizzying experience. The displays are spectacular; the aromas delicious. And afternoon tea, with a full complement of scones and sandwiches and sweets, can be enjoyed upstairs in the staid but lovely St. James’s Restaurant.

Each afternoon of our trip was, of course, spent enjoying afternoon tea at one of London’s great hotels. By far our favorite experience was at Claridge’s, where Queen Victoria met the Empress Eugenie of France for tea in 1860. We could well imagine the regal pair in the magnificent Reading Room, where tea is served. Groupings of over-stuffed furniture offer as much privacy and comfort as possible. The room’s marble columns and potted plants add to the elegant atmosphere. The price is about $23 per person and includes a choice of several marvelous brewed teas.

The service at Claridge’s is personal and excellent. Formally dressed waiters brought each course to our table and carefully arranged each plate so that the decorative “C” on the edge was precisely centered.

The menu began with an assortment of tea sandwiches: salmon, cucumber, ham, egg with watercress and roast beef. This savory beginning was followed by hot scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

As our waiter offered us the scone accompaniments, I noticed a small silver pitcher on the tray. Curious, I asked its purpose. He responded by quickly dipping a spoon first into the pitcher of warm water and then into the clotted cream. The serving of cream slid easily onto our plates without the usual tapping necessary to release it.

A dessert trolley displaying trays of cakes, tarts and pastries was pushed to our table. By then our appetites had reached “elegant sufficiency”--as my mother used to say to imply being stuffed--but we relented and enjoyed a small sweet or two. After several cups of the excellent Claridge’s house tea--a Darjeeling blend--the comfort of the soft cushions and sated appetites took effect. We felt pampered beyond description.

But Brown’s Hotel was still to come. Our visit here turned out to be not just an eating experience, but a lesson in history. On the second floor, we peeked into the Roosevelt Room, where members of the Roosevelt family had been quietly and inconspicuously married.

We also saw the Niagara Room, where world leaders met to discuss the planning of the Suez Canal. Finally, we visited the Alexander Graham Bell Room, which holds the telephone Scottish-born Bell used to make his famous first call. But not all of the goings on there were historical.

When we explored the Claredon Room, we saw that it was set up for a group of prominent members of Parliament as a place to enjoy cigars and port after dinner that evening.

Afternoon tea is served each day in Brown’s very English and slightly masculine dark wood lobby. We were not surprised to see a “tweedy” elderly gentleman taking tea alone, from the comfort of one of Brown’s heavily brocaded chairs. He glanced at his pocket watch, which he removed from his vest, and timed the brewing. After exactly three minutes, he lifted the teapot lid, gently stirred the brew and carefully poured his first cup.

The afternoon tea itself was charmingly served on a three-tiered silver tray that held a selection of excellent sandwich rolls, toasted scones and rich pastries.

As at Brown’s, simple afternoon tea usually consists of finger sandwiches, a selection of tea breads such as scones, plain or Madeira cakes, a variety of sweets and, perhaps, a special dessert such as English trifle. All of this is followed by pot after pot of tea.

In its main restaurant, Brown’s also serves a high tea--a meal that has traditionally been common among the working class of England and Scotland as a substitute for dinner. It usually includes a light entree, such as Welsh rabbit or steak and kidney pie, and is served at supper time, around 6 p.m. Brown’s high tea is served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m and is, perhaps, a little tonier in nature. When we were there, the “light entrees” were salmon fish cakes, chilled slivers of York ham, and a dish made of potatoes and cabbage that was served with a green tomato chutney. These were accompanied by scones and other traditional afternoon tea offerings.

Lest you believe that our entire trip was devoted to taking tea, we also visited the R. Twining and Co. tea shop, which has been in the same location on The Strand since 1706.

Those who are claustrophobic might want to think twice about entering. Long, narrow and rather dark, the shop is jammed with tea and tea accouterments of every description. But it is a treasure trove for tea lovers. Packed into floor-to-ceiling shelves on either side of the aisle, tea books, tea strainers, tea towels, teapots and, of course, tea, all seem to be fighting for shelf space. We thought we were familiar with Twining tea, but the variety available in this shop is overwhelming. (I recommend the Queen Mary blend, sold only in Britain.)

In the middle of this hectic whirl we again abandoned London and headed down to Devon. In Exeter we took a taxi to the village of Bickleigh and our 17th-Century thatched-roof Cottage Country Hotel. The tiny nine-room hotel embraces the banks of the river Exe and is cradled in a colorful English garden. Just down the road was a local dairy farm and our first chance to enjoy an authentic Devonshire cream tea.

The farm grounds of the dairy included a small shop selling local arts and crafts (weavings and blankets and handmade pottery; hand-carved walking sticks and children’s toys) and an even smaller tea room. We sat on the sun porch with blades of sun streaming in through the glass. We talked with other tourists, all of whom were British, as we sampled cream tea composed of two fresh hot scones, one fruited and one plain, a small plate of homemade strawberry jam and a dish of thick, yellow-gold clotted Devonshire cream. We added a pot of brewed English tea and pondered our cholesterol levels. Despite all this, the next day found us back on the train returning to London and ready for more afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea at London’s famed Ritz Hotel was to be our final tea. World famous for its quality and service, this tea experience is considered by many to be the measure against which all others are judged.

We were somewhat disappointed, however. While the hotel itself is exceptional and the ambience of the Palm Court, where tea is served, is one of elegance and sophistication, we bridled at being served tea in unison with all the other diners--making the tea service seem rather mass produced.

The Ritz Tea is served at 3 p.m. and again at 4:30 and is not begun until all guests have been seated. Everyone is served the same course at the same time and this continues throughout the menu. While the quality of the food was certainly excellent, we prefer the more personal, individualized service that we had received at Claridge’s, Brown’s and the Dorchester.

Other tea experiences:

* Often wonder how tea is served in an English home? A company called Heritage Touring arranges an opportunity to enjoy tea with an English family in Exeter, London, Bath, Salisbury, Winchester and York. Called Home Hosting, the service involves afternoon tea prepared by the host family and consisting of an assortment of home-made scones with clotted cream and jam, a selection of finger sandwiches and cakes and tea--all complemented by the family’s best china, table linen and conversation. About $17 per person.

* The Waldorf remains the only London hotel to offer a tea dance every Saturday and Sunday. Dating back to 1913, when so-called Tango Teas first became popular among England’s aristocracy, the tea dance has a long standing tradition at the Waldorf. Step into the magnificent Palm Court and back in time to the rhythms of a live orchestra and waltz, fox trot and tango the hours and calories away. The tea dance is presented each weekend from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. About $30 per person.

* Look carefully, behind that potted palm in the splendid Conservatory dining room, and you might spot the contented faces of Princess Diana, Princess Margaret, Prince Edward or Viscount Linley . . . perhaps even a rock star or two. The Lanesborough has become the place to partake of tea. Between 3:30 and 6 p.m. each day, London’s smartly dressed society crowd, even heads of state, can be seen sipping tea and buttering scones.

* Take tea on a Venice Simplon Orient-Express day-trip, as the train travels between Victoria Station and Folkestone, on England’s southeast coast. Built during the heyday of the British railway system in the 1920s and ‘30s, the train cars have been faithfully restored to their original splendor. The trip departs from Victoria Station and includes a champagne lunch en route to Folkestone. After a leisurely stroll along the famous Leas coastal walk, board the train once again and enjoy a sumptuous afternoon tea as the train returns to London. About $245 per person.

GUIDEBOOK: England . . . to a Tea

Where to take tea: Reservations are necessary for London hotel teas. Prices run $20-$30 per person.

Bickleigh Cottage Country Hotel, Bickleigh Bridge, Tiverton, Devon EX16 8RJ; in England, telephone (884) 855-230; about $80 per night for a double room with bath.

Bramah Tea and Coffee Museum, Clove Building, Maguire Street, London SE2; in London, tel. 378-0222.

Brown’s Hotel, 22-24 Dover St., London W4; tel. 493-6020.

Castle Museum, Twining Teapot Gallery, Norwich NR1 3JU; tel. (603) 223-624.

Claridge’s, Brook Street, London W1A 2JQ; tel. 629-8860.

Dorchester, Park Lane, London W1A 2HJ; tel. 629-8888.

Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly, London W1; tel. 734-8040.

Heritage Touring (Home Hosting), 754 The Square, Cattistock, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 0JD; tel. (300) 320-671.

Mary Mac’s TeaTimes, P.O. Box 841E, Langley, Wash. 98260; tel. (206) 221-1885.

R. Twining and Co., 216 The Strand, London WC2; tel. 353-3511.

The Lanesborough, Hyde Park Corner, London SWIX 7TA; tel. 259-5599.

The Ritz, Piccadilly, London W1; tel. 493-8181.

The Waldorf, Aldwych, London WC2 4DD; tel. 836-2400.

Venice Simplon Orient-Express; tel. (800) 524-2420.