Tea For Three

Tea for Three


Well, here I am in Scotland, surrounded by lush countryside near the little village of Strathpeffer. But I cannot show you around here yet until you have tasted the delights of London.

So busy was I - tasting those delights – that writing two words together that made any sense was an impossible task so I resolved to leave it until after a relaxing day on the train to Scotland.

Now where were we? Oh yes, at the Dorchester! What could better the opulent charm of this wonderful Art Deco Hotel on Park Lane. As you make your way to the table, escorted by a young waiter, you make an effort to keep your gauping mouth shut and arranged in a slightly bored line, as though you pop in for arvo tea regularly and those enormous urns of fresh flowers are only what you expect. To say nothing of the marble, the velvet, the potted palms, the beautiful ceiling lights and the table lamps. No wonder the rich and famous like to be seen here.

Glittering stars like Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor all stayed at the Dorchester, along with such famous political figures as Winston Churchill and President Eisenhower.

The menu arrives:

A selection of finger sandwiches:
Cucumber with cream cheese on caraway seed bread
Egg mayonnaise with shiso cress on white bread
Smoked salmon on granary bread
Warm raisin and plain scones from our bakery served with homemade strawberry jam and Devonshire clotted cream
A platter of cakes and tartlets
Tea or coffee
And yes, we'll have the French champagne, pink I think.
The young waiting staff are attentive, cheerful and respectful, your wish is their command. The sandwiches are divine and when they come to offer more you need to remember to pace yourself, what about those scones with the clotted cream? Yes, here they come. Delicious. And the fruit scones must be tried as well.
It's about now that you realise with dismay you're never going to make it to the petite fours. But, the never-say-die attitude of the Brits is rubbing off on us and we valiantly nibble one or two. Can one ask for a doggie bag at the Dorchester? I'll bet that fellow with the red Rolls Royce parked out the front wouldn't ask. We are mercifully spared that embarrassment when the waiter suggests he make up a box.. Oh, if you insist my good man.
It's time to head off before darkness falls. I retire to the ladies to reinstate the more familiar me, oh yes, sorry, the pearls, nearly forgot them, silly me (almost got away with it!).
Gayle and Lex are driving in the Oxford direction to finish off the long weekend that my arrival has instigated, and I'll just stroll up Piccadilly and see if there's a red double-decker going my way.
I think I'm going to love this city with its funny little winding streets, its constant motion, its magnificent buildings and countless monuments. Oh, here's a bus now: excuse me, are you going anywhere near Bedford Square?