I’m always one for trying to escape the current era we are living in, if even for a little while (can you blame me?). A prime example of that is taking the world’s only remaining true ocean liner, the Cunard Queen Mary 2, on a transatlantic voyage to England. I didn’t have internet or cell phone service for 8 days and enjoyed that quite a bit. What a beautiful form of escapism!
Once in England, I found another time traveling opportunity. This occasion lead us to Edwardian London, through a door at 150 Piccadilly. Indeed, the address of The Ritz in London for their famous Afternoon Tea, a graceful anachronism which is still enjoyed thoroughly today.
In a different post, I mentioned that during the most intense period of the “covid lockdown” I had been on an English kick, and read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Upon completion of the book, I made a tea party for my husband and I to enjoy, while watching the movie of the book. All of the recipes for the little tea sandwiches I made had come from a book my husband gave me, The Ritz London Book of Afternoon tea. I have a post about that here. I was smitten with the idea of getting dressed up and going to the real thing. So I booked a time slot for a Thursday, starting at 11:30 am.
The Afternoon Tea at the Ritz is certainly a fancy occasion. All men must wear a suit jacket and tie, and ladies must dress up.
“Here is one of the few places outside church or royal garden parties where a woman may wear a hat and feel entirely at ease, In fact, those approaching The Palm Court clad in such garments as jeans, shorts, or sneakers will be reluctantly but firmly turned away. Suitably dressed tea-bibbers, however, will be greeted by The Palm Court’s waiters, many of whom have worked at the Ritz for a number of years now. ‘Tea at the Ritz is not only sandwiches and cakes but an Occasion,’ Thank goodness there are still places like this for pure enjoyment, even in a modern world.’
-The Ritz London Book of Afternoon Tea by Helen Simpson
A few fun facts:
The tradition of Afternoon Tea started in the 1840’s with Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford. She would get a tired sinking feeling around 4pm, and still had a long wait until the next meal. She finally started getting the courage to ask for tea, cakes, and bread and butter to be brought up to her room. Soon it had become a habit she could not break free from, so rather than keeping the secret to herself she started inviting friends. Before long it became a widespread tradition. By the 1880’s even fashions started to be involved, as ladies would change into ultra feminine tea dresses for the occasion which were fittingly loose-waisted.
The Ritz Hotel in London was the first hotel young women were allowed to go to tea. One could meet men without chaperones for lunch and tea, and in that era it was a pretty big deal to have that freedom.
Afternoon tea must always start with sandwiches. “You are not allowed to move on to the cakes and muffins until you have blunted the teeth of your appetite with a sandwich”, according to The Ritz London Book of Afternoon Tea. The book goes on to say;
“The obligatory sandwich, so ingenuous and practical, was the brainchild and namesake of the fourth Earl of Sandwich. The daredevil Earl lived life, appropriately enough, on a knife edge, hurling his fortunes around at the gaming tables. His gambling sessions often lasted twenty-four hours or more, and one night in 1762, the rumbling from his stomach was so violent that his attention strained dangerously from a combination of clubs and diamonds to chimeras of bread and meat. He had a good hand and could not bear to rise for a meal. “Stap me vitals,’ he groaned. What could he do? This cruel dilemma produced an inspired solution. He whispered to his manservant , who returned, minutes later, with a hunk of beef between two slices of bread. The gamblers gasped at such brilliance. The Earl wolfed down the world’s first sandwich, and that night won ten thousand pounds”.
There is a big debate about if jam goes on the biscuits first or clotted cream. I tried it both ways.
You are supposed to put the milk in your cup prior to the tea. This dates back to a time when the cups would shatter if they received hot liquid in them suddenly, and the milk would ease the blow. It is not the case nowadays. but it is still the “proper” way.
C’esar Ritz was quite obsessed with getting the lighting right in the hotel. In his widow’s biography, she explained for weeks and weeks he was absorbed with the lighting and would have her sit in these same rooms we were in, while he tried for hours and hours at a time to get the lighting right. She explains ” A delicate apricot pink was found to be the most becoming colour”, and you will see that it is still evident today.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the experience of the Ritz London Afternoon tea. I am thankful this tradition still exists! Another Afternoon Tea you might consider is the one we tried last time at The Wallace Collection.
