JUNE 2018| The Australian Women’s Weekly 197
Travel
T
homas Twining opened his irst
tea shop for ladies in London
in 1717, and since then Britons
have sipped it continually –
in the UK today around
165 million cuppas are downed
daily, according to the UK Tea and
Infusions Association.
As a reined affair for the wealthy,
during the 18th century an afternoon
tea of sandwiches and cakes evolved
into something of a national institution- for the working classes, it became
“high tea”, the main meal of the day.
Today, London features a profusion
of afternoon tea venues, from the
opulent to informal, traditional to
cheekily contemporary.
Tea at The Ritz London, served amid
Louis XVI furnishings and glittering
chandeliers, is so popular it has ive
daily sittings, and will set you back
from £57 ($103) per person.
I set forth to seek out some of the city’s
less well-known teas, and discovered
some that are not only great value,
but haunts of the rich and famous.
The Lanesborough Hotel
A grand Georgian hotel, the
Lanesborough has long been a favourite
afternoon teavenue: comedian Dawn
French, who wasseated at the next
table on one of my visits, has referred
to the Lanesborough as “simply the best
place to take tea in London”. Afternoon
tea is served in the Michelin-starred
restaurant Céleste (French for “heavenly”)
and, as you would expect from a
ive-star hotel, is truly grand. Sample
classics such as inger sandwiches,
just-made scones and amazing French
pastries, served withine dining inesse,
and a tea sommelierto help choose
from almost 40 varieties of tea.
£39 ($70) per person or from
£49 ($89)with champagne.
The Lanesborough Hotel, Hyde Park
Corner, London. Visit oetkercollection.
com/destinations/the-lanesborough.DUKES HOTEL
You never know who you might meet
at Dukes, an elegant, stylish hotel
steps from Clarence House, London
home of the Prince of Wales and
Duchess of Cornwall. Just 16 people
take tea in Dukes’ gracious 300-year-
old Drawing Room or Conservatory,
where a quintessentially British
afternoon tea that includes scones
with clotted cream, cucumber and
cream cheese sandwiches and array
of sweet fancies, washed down by
tea including Dukes Own Blend, is
£32.50 ($59) per person. A Gin and
Tonic afternoon tea is £38 ($69).
Legend has it that whenJames Bond
author Ian Fleming stayed at Dukes,
he was so impressed with the hotel’s
martinis they became the inspiration
for his “shaken, not stirred” line.
Dukes London, 35 St. James Place,
London. Visit dukeshotel.com.Lanesborough’s
high tea. Below:
Céleste restaurant.You can have gin
and tonic or
champagne (left)
with tea at Dukes.GETTY IMAGES.