St. Regis Hotel, NYC - a step back in time - 2002

Considered one of the top destinations for Afternoon Tea in New York City, the Astor Court of the St. Regis Hotel is the ultimate in elegance, class, and style.  The stately room exudes a feeling of serenity and elegance, with fresh floral arrangements, pillars that rise endlessly to the ceilings, harp music playing in the background, gorgeous chandeliers that drip with sparkle.  If you are planning a trip to the City, this is something you need to plan on doing, but be certain to budget the expense and save specifically for this experience.  At $55.00 per person, you are certainly treating yourself to a lovely memory.  My sister and I had the opportunity to enjoy Afternoon Tea at the St. Regis hotel in 2002 when it was a mere $35.00/person (which we thought was a real splurge at the time).

The current menu is available on-line, and has changed since we were there.  It consists of assorted sandwiches, large tasty scones, and petite pastries.  The table is set with silver tea strainers, sugar crystals on a stick, a honey jar, lemon slices, orange marmalade and strawberry jam, lemon curd and matched china place settings specifically designed for the hotel.

When we finished our plate of sandwiches, a second plate was replaced with another plate laden with fresh sandwiches.  And when that plate was empty, they offered a third plate.  The scones are on the top tier, kept warm under the dome.  The variety of desserts, originally listed as 'Dry Cookies' on the menu, is now listed as Assorted Tea Cakes and Tarts.  Our selection included one each of the tiniest palmier, a regular sized chocolate chip cookie, a rolled tuile, a tiny square fruit tart, a berry square, two jellied fruit candies, and a thin raisin topped cookie wafer.  It was a very pretty assortment of desserts.  Amazingly, we managed to cut everything in half so that we could each sample the sweets.

They have an extensive tea list, and at one point engaged Elizabeth Knight as their tea sommelier.  Also noted on their website and menu: proper attire is required, and to please refrain from cell phone usage.