High Time for High Tea

It was Fenya's brithday today, and since she and Audrey had a work event this evening, she asked if we could do high tea in the afternoon instead of the traditional dinner out. Since this is a cultural touchpoint I had never experienced, I eagerly agreed, and we all rolled into Lady Bea's English Tea House at 2 pm.

The decor is elegant and cozy without being pretentious, and we were there for the first day of the winter menu. Three of us chose the option that let us try all five savoury treats, two different scones with clotted cream, preserves and lemon curd, and five different sweets. We each got to select our own pot of tea  as well (from a selection of more than two dozen varieties), with the Double Cream Earl Grey being a delightful choice for myself.

Despite being served tea in delicate, beautiful cups and saucers, and eating exquisitely styled bite-sized (occasionally 2-3-bites-sized) sandwiches, tarts and sweets in a named room that mightn't appear out of place in Downtown Abbey, there was an astonishing lack of snobbishness. (I suspect you might need to bring it with you.)

On a frosty, extremely foggy day in Edmonton, it felt a little bit like dining within a snow globe, complete with a commensurate slowing of time. 

No pinkies were extended (at least, not intentionally), but using tiny tongs to carefully extract a brown sugar cube (a first for most of us!) from a wee bowl and depositing it as fastidiously as possible in your delicate teacup (that I could not fit a single finger into the handle of), has a way of encouraging real intentionality during the experience. The slightly crowded table factored into this as well.

All in all, a wonderful time I cannot recommend enough, especially with the right company.

Happy birthday Fenya!