Afternoon tea to usher in the holidays
Stir’s guide to high tea menus throughout Vancouver this festive season
Bacchus Restaurant’s Nutcracker Afternoon Tea. Photo by Jamie-Lee Fuoco
HIGH TEA HAS a way of feeling special, and when the service is combined with holiday festivities it becomes even more memorable. Here’s a look at six places that are serving up the season with a cuppa along with fulsome menus.
Neverland Tea Salon Holiday High Tea.
Neverland Tea Salon
Located in the heart of Kitsilano, Neverland Tea Salon was founded by childhood friends Terri Tatchell, who has a background in film, and Renee Iaci, who has a background in theatre; their executive chef is Gordon Kuang. The Holiday High Tea menu, $65 per person, starts off with an amuse-bouche of a garlic-and-herb cheese ball with focaccia crostini. On the savoury side, there’s a turkey sandwich with house-made cranberry chutney, arugula, and gravy mayo (vegetarians get a tofu sandwich); truffled mushroom mini quiche with Gruyère; orange-fig compote and pear with Brie on a croissant; house-made stuffing herbed scones with roasted butternut squash, pumpkin butter, and sage; and beet-whipped mascarpone with fresh cucumber and arugula. For sweets, the team is serving apple cake with vanilla crumble, cranberry chocolate tart, London fog choux, and chocolate devil’s food cake. There are gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan menus available. Neverland’s Tinkerbell High Tea is for kids aged 12 and under ($45 per person) and includes a mini cheese-pizza bagel; Nutella reindeer sandwich with pretzel antlers; turkey and Swiss cheese on brioche; beet-whipped mascarpone & cucumber; mini devil’s food cake; vanilla cupcake; red velvet star-shaped shortbread cookie; and holiday scone with cream and house-made strawberry jam.
H Tasting Lounge Festive Afternoon Tea.
H Tasting Lounge
The restaurant inside the Westin Bayshore adjacent to the seawall is serving Festive Afternoon Tea on Saturdays and Sundays through to December 29 ($79 per person). House-made holiday bites are served on mini golden Ferris wheels. The menu includes gingerbread scones with fig jam and clotted cream alongside peppermint bark and the lounge’s signature cotton candy. For finger sandwiches, there’s confit turkey leg, caramelized apricot, cranberry preserve, and turkey gravy gel on a mini brioche crostini; house-smoked Pacific spring salmon terrine, dill, lemon, caper, and horseradish cream cheese on marble rye; butter-poached fall harvest butternut squash with double-smoked-bacon foam and crispy kale blinis; and maple- and Dijon-glazed Fraser Valley ham with parsley-thyme pistou and a warm Swiss cheese dipping sauce. Desserts include a mini bûche de Noël consisting of chocolate sponge, chocolate mousse, salted caramel, red glaze, chocolate shavings, gold dust, and meringue mushroom; a Christmas cupcake made of sticky toffee cake with cream-cheese frosting; vanilla cheesecake with honey caviar, wine gel, currants, and festive biscotti crisps; and a Christmas wreath made of charcoal Paris Brest, mistletoe craquelin, poinsettia petals, pistachio crema, and Cassis Chantilly.
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
The iconic Vancouver hotel will have a “holiday chalet” Afternoon Tea this year, taking place in a dedicated decorated dining space within Notch8 Restaurant. It runs Wednesdays through Sundays from November 28 to December 29 (excluding December 22, 23, 24, and 25) and is priced at $79 per adult and $45 per child aged 12 and under. On the menu are classic buttermilk scones and spiced gingerbread scones with sweet cream and strawberry preserves; a crab and lobster roll with lemon-dill aioli and alfalfa on brioche; winter truffle and wild mushroom tartlet with lemon mascarpone and pickled shimeji; festive ham sandwich with apple chutney, Dijon mustard aioli, and Swiss cheese; bressola with pear and fig chutney, basil-arugula pesto, and toasted cashew; and free-range egg salad with green goddess dressing and tarragon. For sweets, there’s Santa’s hat, a salted-caramel profiterole with red meringue and white-chocolate shard; Saint Nick’s belt, which is a spice-scented macaron with chestnut cream; Scottish shortbread with star-anise glaze and gold flakes; citrus financier with candied orange, lemon, and freeze-dried mandarin powder; and a white-forest cheesecake with white chocolate, Amarena cherries, and bitter chocolate.
Bacchus Restaurant’s Nutcracker Afternoon Tea. Photo by Jamie-Lee Fuoco
Bacchus Restaurant
The elegant dining room at the Wedgewood Hotel is bringing back its popular festive Nutcracker Afternoon Tea on weekends complete with live music until December 22, priced at $82 per person. Special add-ons include Champagne and cocktails. On the menu are finely cut gourmet sandwiches such as classic English cucumber and cream cheese on sourdough; deviled egg with local salmon caviar and chives; lobster tartelette; turkey and cranberry on artisan sourdough; truffled leek quiche with sundried-tomato pesto; confit albacore tuna with capers and dill; and savoury scones and crumpets with clotted cream and house-made preserves. An option is to add a seafood platter ($58) with six West Coast oysters, six prawns, classic mignonette, cocktail sauce, and citrus. Sweets include spekulatius-infused profiterole, seasonal macarons, peppermint-mocha verrine, hazelnut-chocolate roulade, and gingerbread-cheesecake tartelette.
ADONIA Tea House
Founded in 2003 by Ping Chou, ADONIA Tea House in Kerrisdale is named after the Greek god of beauty. The afternoon tea service features 12 house-made sweets and savouries, including finger sandwiches, pastries, scones, and more. It’s priced at $56 per person, while a mini afternoon tea for lighter appetites goes for $38 per person. The tea house offers vegan, vegetarian, and dairy-free options.
Winter High Tea at this Kerrisdale tea room includes lemon tart, orange-blossom baklava, chocolate yule log, and Quebec sugar pie. Scones come in two flavours: cranberry and s’mores, both of which are served with jam and Devonshire cream. Savoury delights are egg salad on fairy-pink bun, chicken and Brussels sprout slaw on mini mesquite biscuit, tiny potato Gruyère tart, and roasted turkey and cranberry relish on petite croissant. The cost is $56 per person, or $39 per child aged eight and under. 
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