Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood at The Langham
The Palm Court at The Langham is one of those places that makes you feel as though you have stepped back in time and straight into a land of real life Downton, My Fair Lady and magic.
Dating back to 1865, English Afternoon Tea is credited to the Duchess of Bedford. The legend says that the first lady to enjoy ‘afternoon tea’ was Anna Maria, the 7th Duchess of Bedford who lived at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire and was lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria.
Palm Court, The Langham
The Duchess of Bedford is said to have experienced a ‘sinking feeling’ in the middle of the afternoon one day and asked her footman to deliver all the tea making equipment with some bread and butter to her private room. She found this new meal so satisfying and enjoyable that she soon started inviting her special friends to join her for ‘afternoon tea’.
Even when she went to stay with her aristocratic friends in their manor houses, she took her own kettle and tea making items with her so that she could continue her afternoon parties when she was away from home. The simple platefuls of bread and butter that first accompanied afternoon tea developed into much more elaborate selections of sandwiches, scones, muns, cakes, biscuits, gâteaux and fruit desserts.
The entrance…
Palm Court is famed as the place where the tradition of afternoon tea was born over 150 years ago and to celebrate the hotel’s 146th anniversary in June 2011, the restaurant offered afternoon tea for the original 1865-price of seven pence!
Sadly the price has since gone up a bit, but it’s worth every penny. My brother and I met there on a sunny Autumnal day for their Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood, which was bursting with prettiness, sweetness and deliciousness.
A selection of sandwiches, including London cured smoked salmon with whipped brie and rocket, Corn-fed chicken with tarragon mustard and plum tomato, Burford brown free-range egg and mustard cress, Asparagus with Wiltshire ham and Comté cheese, Cucumber with cream cheese and chives…
Selection of warm scones from our Palm Court bakery with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve
Wedgwood and tea are intrinsically linked, starting with the use of Wedgwood teaware by Queen Charlotte of England in the mid 18th century. We enjoyed Wedgwood specialty teas in tailor-made “Langham Rose” Wedgwood teaware.
When the exquisite pastries arrived, it became clear that each one had been inspired by Wedgwood collections… gorgeous.
It was a gorgeous afternoon. A heavenly afternoon tea with lovely music, lovely company and never-ending pots of tea.
I felt sad to leave the magic of the Palm Court behind, with its romance and charm… but as I stepped out into 2015 London once more, the Autumn leaves were falling, a deep red double decked bus trundled by and the hum of Marylebone seemed to rise up through the pavement….
A magical afternoon tea in my magical city.
What a lucky Poppy I am.
Palm Court at The Langham
1C Portland PLace
London, W1B 1JA
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