One of London’s most venerable hotels is blowing the dust off the staid image of Britain’s favorite beverage as the Waldorf Hilton employs a tea sommelier to inspire and educate a new generation eager for afternoon tea in London.
The Waldorf became a favored venue for stylish celebrations when the hotel opened in 1908 on the fashionable and newly built Aldwych Circle. Exhilarating dance parties took place in the Palm Court ballroom when the Argentine tango made its scandalous appearance in London. By the 1920s, drinking tea and dancing were as synonymous as clotted cream and strawberry preserves when the hotel hosted special Tango Teas to accommodate the dance’s raging popularity.
Sadly, tea dances halted when the Palm Court’s glass ceiling was shattered by the explosion of an aerial bomb during World War II. However, the magnificent roof was eventually restored, and the nearly forgotten tea dance was resurrected on the spacious marble floor of the Waldorf’s Palm Court in 1982. During certain holiday weekends, a small combo accompanies the afternoon soirees where couples of all ages may be found fox-trotting and waltzing their cares away. Tourists from across the globe, young couples trying out their freshly honed dance steps, pensioners reliving a bygone era, and even mothers and sons fill the dance floor today.
On an Autumn afternoon, I watched a proud grandfather take a turn on the floor with each of his three granddaughters. I remember thinking, “Those fortunate young women are making memories that will last a lifetime.” Thankfully, the appeal of rituals and memories are still in vogue today.
The Waldorf Hilton is heating up the London tea scene by introducing its unique Waldorf Tea Experience with Tea Sommelier Domenico Gradia. Known to his close friends and associates as “Dom or Mr. T,” this effervescent tea professional honed his skills with the UK Tea Academy as he worked with such notable tea establishments as Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. His former teacher and TeaTime contributing editor, Jane Pettigrew, accompanied me on a recent visit to Dom’s beautiful new tea studio.
Located just off the hotel’s front lobby and with a picture window view of countless passers-by on busy Aldwych Circle, Dom’s wrap-around tea counter serves as a stage where eager guests learn of tea’s journey from the bush to the cup. Reservations are needed for the 90-minute sessions offered on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday in the morning or afternoon. Up to four guests can enjoy a private tea tutorial as they learn the basics of the world’s favorite drink, including interesting facts about its origins, varieties, manufacturing processes, and its introduction into British society. In addition, an entire wall of bespoke tea from the Hope and Glory tea purveyors offers a wide variety of single garden loose-leaf teas from various growing regions. Dom’s energetic presentations are both entertaining and enlightening.
Of course, a true afternoon tea in London would be incomplete without a sweet accompaniment. So, from Wednesday through Sunday, guests may pop in for Tea and Cake, where they choose one of the delicate desserts made daily by the hotel’s patisserie. Choices include Bitter Chocolate and Cherry Mousse, Lemon Meringue Choux Bun, Victorian Sponge, and a tea from the Hope and Glory display.
Still, if it is a traditional London afternoon tea that you crave, the Waldorf Hilton also has that. Their Homage Restaurant offers daily afternoon tea service that includes all the expected courses: crustless finger sandwiches such as honey roast ham, plum tomato and wholegrain mustard in granary bread, smoked salmon, caviar and pink grapefruit crème Fraiche in Viennese bread, and sundried tomato, truffle, and lovage pesto in tomato bread.
Scones are served with Devonshire Cream and preserves along with cakes that include orange and cranberry financier iced cake, lemon & white chocolate cheesecake macaroon, layered raspberry, and rose mousse cake, as well as millionaire’s chocolate tart. An optional plant-based menu is also available.
Children will gladly experience the restaurant’s themed teas, such as “Beauty and the Beast.” During the spring and winter holidays, music again fills the luxurious Palm Court as eager guests take their places for the beloved tea dances. Even if you are not a dancer, tables are available on the balcony levels where you may peer approvingly over the ornate wrought-iron railing covered with fairy lights. However, I suspect that sooner or later, the romantic mood and the rhythmic music will seduce the most reticent of tea dance voyeurs to join in the merry ritual.
Whether you pair your tea with instruction, cake, or dance, you can be sure that your teatime at The Waldorf Hilton will offer a delicious memory that will linger for years.
This story first appeared in TeaTime magazine.
Read more about the history of tea in the United Kingdom and United States in A SOCIAL HISTORY OF TEA by Jane Pettigrew and Bruce Richardson