The Mad Hatter's Tea: Get Warm this Holiday Season
With an Alice in Wonderland theme, the seasonal Mad Hatter’s Tea comes to the cozy Atwood Café. Nestled in the Hotel Burnham, Atwood’s Art Deco adorned room offers tea, scones, finger sandwiches and desserts in an ideal holiday setting.
Before becoming a downtown eatery, Atwood Cafe was a tea shop. In keeping with their roots, the eatery greets patrons for the Mad Hatter’s Tea with a list of teas and delectables printed on a large Queen of Hearts card. With the food menu prearranged, the only thing left to do is choose a pot of tea. Black, green, white and herbal teas are rife for the picking, especially Rose Silver Needle from China, which smells and tastes exactly like the flower. The teas come brewed in colorful tea pots that Alice would’ve loved. Honey, sugar and lemon wedges sit on the table as does a container of crème, which can be drizzled into the tea for an English flair.
Tea partiers wait for a three-tiered tray of snacks to arrive, sipping the tea on elegant plush chairs and couches and gazing out onto the bustling shopping district of State Street. Finger sandwiches: smoked salmon, tomato and basil bites, truffled egg salad and apple and pear sandwiches are a good place to start. They should whet the appetite, but wait, there’s more. Cranberry scones with “Eat me” written on them are accompanied with mascarpone, lemon-vanilla curd and raspberry compote for dipping and spreading.
After filling up on sandwiches and baked goods, save room for the dessert plate. Consume fresh strawberries, white and dark chocolate candies shaped into mushrooms and tiny cups made out of chocolate and filled with creamy caramel and chocolate mousse. Once the dessert has been scooped out, take a bit out of the edible chocolate cup and wash it down with some more tea.
Soon it’ll be time to return to the cold, but take a moment to bask in the fire blazing in the fireplace, the stately chandeliers hanging in the cafe and the warmth settling into the belly.
Posted by Garin Pirnia
