Four Seasons Tea

I'm going to start by saying that the Four Seasons is my new favourite tea place. The ladies had all been here before but it was my first time and I will definitely be going back.

When I arrived, we were all seated around the tiny table right at the entrance to the Lobby Bar. This was probably the only thing I didn't like about the Four Seasons: that you can see the driveway from this tiny little table. But it was cozy and we're not *that* classy. As usual, Dining Queen was late (!) so the waiter started us off with a round of iced blackcurrent juice (this is Ribena, for all you connoisseurs of fruit juices) and little shot glasses filled with whipped cream and strawberries. God, so yummy!

I phoned ahead about my egg-allergy and they were very good about it. Not only did them substitute out the egg salad with an extra cucumber sandwich, but they served them to me on a separate plate. Now, this was not at all necessary - it's a digestive, not anaphylactic, allergy - but I was grateful all the same.

The scones were wonderful, although we had to request more Devon cream a couple of times (yes, we're pigs) and the petits-fours looked lovely. I have stopped eating these though. It's bad enough that I'm awake most of the night without having to deal with egg-induced catatonia in the early afternoon.

I had the organic Assam tea (no Darjeeling, strangely enough) and it was perfect. I have come to the conclusion that you can tell the best tea places because the waiter is Indian. Perhaps I should find me an Indian man and train him to serve me tea every weekend...

http://www.fourseasons.com/toronto/dining/lobby_bar.html
(Sticker shock warning: the cost of afternoon tea is not listed, with good reason!)

I could go on and on Annona...

But I won't because I have a full Sunday evening planned with Detective Murdoch and my couch. Five of us had high tea at Anonna* at the Park Hyatt this afternoon and it was good. It was not too pricey ($26) as far as Yorkville goes, but I'm hungry again which is a bit unusual. However, the food was good.

Finger sandwiches included:

• watercress and cheddar pinwheel on whole wheat (two for me),
• devilled eggs with ham (which I skipped, of course),
• grilled chicken and pineapple crepe roll up,
• smoked salmon salad with dill on white,
• roast beef with horseradish on rye.

I should maybe stop going to the gym before tea because I was not full after the sandwiches. The scones more than filled up the space in my tummy though. These might very well have been the best mini scones I have ever tasted. They were light and fluffy, airy even, and the flavour was very subtle. Individual pots of clotted cream and a good (but not overwhelming) assortment of mini preserves.

I ordered the white tip darjeeling (duh) and also tried the jasmine (refreshing but a slight hint of something astringent) and Eros (orange and vanilla, was really delicious and this from an herbal tea snob).

For dessert, I had a bite of the chocolate ganache and almost went into egg-accelerated chocolate shock. It was rich enough to marry, have kids and then happily divorce. I also tried a small bit of the english trifle shot but the flavour was masked by the ganache monster in my mouth.

The waiter and kitchen were very accommodating of my allergy so that was much appreciated. Good enough to recommend to my mother and her friends.

*I want to link directly to the tea menu on their website but it prompts me to download or open a PDF which is frankly annoying and unprofessional.

The Olde Curiousity Tea Shoppe

http://cuppa.ca/
This review is pending mental clarity and decaffeination of my blood stream. Please stay tuned. In the meantime, check out these awesome Nuit Blanche photos.

Bottega Gianduia Grappa

Ladies, pay attention. I have discovered sex in a bottle. That's right, chocolate grappa. It is the best thing since... Geoff's mother's cooking. Yes, that's right, that's how good it is. Now, I'm not a fan of regular chocolate liqueur. Creme de cacao is awful and chocolate martinis are an abomination to the entire martini food group. Chocolate grappa, however, is like liquid dessert. Imagine drinking chocolate fondue out of a shot glass with a bit of a kick at the end. Ah, so good.

I feel like I need to provide a backstory for this information. Last night, I went to the Fat Belgian for dinner with Anjali and two other girlfriends. I really like this restaurant and wish that it wasn't across the street from Hooters and Circa. However, the location is great if you want to have dinner and drinks downtown before you go out to a club. Or even if you don't plan to go out afterward. If you can find room in the budget to pay $10 for parking and can forgive the occasional fire truck that pulls out of the neighbourhood fire hall (ooh, chocolate grappa and firemen! I digress), this restaurant doesn't disappoint.

I have had dinner here many times before. Their online drink list doesn't appear to be up to date. I had my usual pina colada style martini but if I had seen the butterball martini on the menu, I definitely would have ordered that for dessert! We shared the fried calamari and the goat cheese wrapped in phyllo pastry appetizers. For our main course we shared the Fat Belgian mussels and the moules mariniere. All of the food here was excellent as always so I won't even bother to tell you that the phyllo was flakey, the calamari was crunchy and the mussels were tasty enough to make a toxicologist forget that they're filter feeders.

The head waitress comped us a round of shots. This is when we discovered the chocolate grappa. As soon as I post this, I'm going to the liquor store to buy myself a bottle. Or seven. It is not available at all LCBO stores though so check before you head to your local store. And a word of advice from the waitress. Before you crack the seal and serve, give it a good shake otherwise it will pour out lumpy. Yes, that's how chocolatey it is!

For dessert, we indulged. We shared the Deus creme brulee, the mango sorbet and the chocolate trifle. All were excellent. A warning about the creme brulee though. Deus Brut de Flandres is a champale and you can definitely taste the ale. If you don't like beer flavoured food, give this a miss. It was otherwise an excellent brulee.

In the interest of full disclosure, I only sampled two spoonfuls of the creme brulee and trifle as I'm allergic to eggs. After we split the bill, we ended up paying about $50 each so this was not a cheap night out but I thought it was worth it. I hope I still think that when I get my VISA bill!

The Fat Belgian is definitely a big hit. I'll be back there in less than a month.

Ladies who do tea

Hi, welcome to our blog. This blog is written by, about and for ladies who do tea. Specifically, eight lovely, wonderful, beautiful and intelligent tea-loving ladies. We are close friends who consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to spend the occasional afternoon having tea and eating finger sandwiches and scones and devon cream. This blog is about our misadventures with tea.