January is often the month associated with empty pockets. Sound familiar? With the early pay day in December leaving us all gasping for the next and the present buying from that bigger-than-ever Christmas list weighing down on our credit card balance, we can be forced into a state of eating own-brand supermarket food and spending nights in front of the tele. Dry January - whether you've given up alcohol or not - is not the most likely time for extravagance and opulence. However, just before the month was out, the Letley Ladies had the perfect excuse to toast 30.01.15.
Afternoon Tea at the Dorchester was a long-awaited treat for four granddaughters and their grandmother. The occasion was indeed even more special. Our beloved Grandfather, husband to my Gran for over 60 years, sadly passed away in November last year and on the 30th of January, what would have been his 84th birthday (in a place that was also the same age), the Letley Ladies celebrated in his honour. And a birthday celebration requires champagne to start.
Cheers Grandad!
The waiter began the feast by serving a round of perfectly linear finger sandwiches; smoked salmon, roast chicken, egg & cress, tuna mayonnaise and cucumber & cream cheese. How funny it should be that with five options on our plates, each one of the five Letley ladies should all, by chance, pick a different sandwich to begin our tea!
"Thank goodness we are different enough not to have picked the same!"
As afternoon teas go, with a 2:1 ratio of sweet to savoury, the acceptance of another round of sandwiches was a greedy decision we all soon came to regret. With compliments from the chef, a little mint chocolate cup to refresh our palettes began the slip into sugary heaven.
We should have known better. Before we knew it the tiered stands before us became slathered with sweet things. Scones and jam were about as far as I could go despite the eye-arousing display of mandarin macaroons, chocolate & raspberry roulade, beetroot & walnut loaf, coffee mousse and coconut & mango sponge.
With a menu of nearly twenty teas, it varied across our party from 'The Dorchester' (the house tea which my Gran was delighted with), to the more traditional option Earl Grey (I may be predictable but it was more delicious than ever) to some more experimental requests for leaves from far-off shores that were rather tricky to pronounce! With a never-ending supply of our chosen tea, we were fed and watered like Queens!
With the ivory tiles twinkling in the background, the service was everything you would expect from such a prestigious establishment. Hats, tails and waistcoats galore, the fabulous pianist Sam even took requests - Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin" was a special request for my Gran.
It will be our special request to repeat this new tradition on an annual basis to mark 30.01.1931. Thirty. One. Thirty-One.
(And that's 364 days to burn off the calories consumed!)
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