Tiger Tales

Suited to a tea

High tea is on the up again in Asia.

While this curious cultural phenomenon seldom goes out of style, venues are finding new and innovative ways to serve a cuppa, three tiers of food and in the process, capture a niche market and increase patronage.

At the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, F&B director Byron Wright says that although high tea has remained popular since the hotel opened in 2008, it really took off in May last year with the launch of a chic new tea ritual.

“I think a lot of the popularity has come from the influence of US fast food companies that have started to educate the Asian palate to accept and enjoy sweeter refined pastries,” he says. “Put this together with the Asian love for reunions and gatherings and you have a perfect marriage of food and cultural values.” The hotel’s Rendezvous Lounge Bar high tea has become so successful that it now commands 40% of the outlet’s total revenue.

Executive Chef Arnaud Thulliez of The Ritz-Carlton Millenia was the first in Singapore to introduce an eight-course afternoon tea in response to feedback from guests who wanted an indulgent, enhanced culinary experience.

His Chihuly Lounge afternoon tea starts with a tea mocktail served with crackers with XO chilli sambal. It also includes a course with beef Wellington followed by homemade scones, sandwiches, bite-sized savouries and pastries.

“Afternoon tea can be a holistic experience encompassing not only the culinary, the execution, appearance, balance of flavours and chinaware, but also the warmth of service, surroundings and ambience,” he says.

It took a Californian to put a Japanese twist on high tea at Sakesan, the newest Robatayaki bar in Hong Kong’s Soho area. Head Pastry Chef Tracy Wei creates her own desserts using offbeat ingredients. Offerings include fried, kuromitsu custard- filled sata andagi (Japanese doughnuts), strawberry red bean kanten, frozen lemongrass mousse, mango and shichimi, black sesame chiffon cake and coconut gelée, and green tea scones and red bean paste with your choice of Japanese teas.

Chef Gray Kunz of Café Gray Deluxe at Hong Kong’s The Upper House says new high-tea trends include regional focuses and a back-to-basics approach. “All our herbs are from an organic farm on Lantau Island,” he says. “Not only can we maintain better quality control over the ingredients, it also helps the environment.”

There’s an added touch of olfactory comfort at Singapore’s Ritz-Carlton Millenia in the form of Jo Malone scented candles. On offer are treats such as a mint chocolate dome and assam grapefruit macarons, specially created to complement Jo Malone’s Limited Edition Tea Fragrance Blends.

While some high teas lead the pack through innovation, others never change. The Authors’ Lounge at Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental, with its colonial charm and white rattan furniture, has been serving a traditional English afternoon tea with scones, finger sandwiches and cakes for 120 years.

Banking on its Old World charm, the Raffles Hotel’s Tiffin Room serves Singapore’s best- known high tea, featuring a mix of finger sandwiches, freshly baked pastries and scones with jam and cream.

HIGH TEA HISTORY

The 7th Duchess of Bedford, Anna Russell is credited with inventing afternoon tea. She had cakes, tarts and other niceties brought to her boudoir to keep hunger at bay until dinner was served at about 9pm. Others followed suit and by 1865 it had become a fashionable form of entertaining, where ladies met and discussed “tea business”. In the Victorian era, afternoon tea was a ritual where being seen to have the right tea set and social circle was as important as the tea itself.

FIND IT:

● Rendezvous Lounge Bar, Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, tel: +853 8861 0016, www.sofitel.com
● Chihuly Lounge, The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, Singapore, tel: +65 6337 8888, www.ritzcarlton.com
● Sakesan, Hong Kong, tel: +852 2525 1660, www.cafedecogroup.com
● Café Gray Deluxe, The Upper House, Hong Kong, tel: +852 3968 1106, www.upperhouse.com
● Authors’ Lounge, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, tel: +66 (0)2 659 9000, www.mandarinoriental.com
● Tiffin Room, Raffles Hotel, Singapore, tel: +65 6337 1886, www.raffles.com