Afternoon Tea News - Into the Woods Afternoon Tea

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea news article from Tea With Me and Friends.

Recently we were invited to attend a press day at Sketch in London to sample their new themed afternoon tea based on Into the Woods. Unfortunately we couldn't make the event, but we loved the photos we saw of this tea that we just had to share it with you anyway.....

Into the Woods themed afternoon tea - Sketch, London

Sketch have also sent us the following details to make our mouths water some more....

To mark the Blu-ray™ and DVD release of Disney’s musical masterpiece Into the Woods, London Mayfair venue sketch has teamed up with the film to create a limited edition run of its afternoon tea. ‘Tea in The Woods’ will be available at sketch for three weeks from Monday 18th May – Sunday 7th June. 

The inspired menu has re-created some of the classic Afternoon Tea elements and given them a fairytale, woodland makeover – with items fit for any basket to take to grandma’s house. Included in the re-vamped tea is Little Red Riding Hood’s Choux, Jack’s Beanstalk Tart and a Prince Charming Green ‘Sand-Witch’, all complemented by the Baker and His Wife’s selection of sketch pastries.

Hervé Deville and Christophe Gasper, Executive and Pastry Chefs at sketch, comment: “Fantasy, fairytale, magic, colours and textures are words and adjectives that sketch has in common with Disney… We were naturally inspired as we always enjoy telling a story through our menus!” 

At £39 per person, afternoon tea can either be pre-booked for The Gallery online, or taken in The Glade Room on a walk-in basis. The first 30 people to book Tea in the Woods will win a copy of the film and the award-winning soundtrack – a must for all musical fans and Disney enthusiasts. 

Into the Woods themed afternoon tea - Sketch, London

Into The Woods Tea Menu

Assorted Finger Sand-Witches: Smoked Salmon and Jacob’s Cream, Cucumber and Ricotta, Prince Charming pesto Panini with mozzarella, Egg Mayonnaise, Quail egg and caviar

Sultana or Plain Scone; Served with clotted cream, fig and strawberry jam

The Baker and His Wife’s Selection of Pastries: Jack’s Beanstalk tart, Earl Grey Macaroon, Little Red Riding Hood Choux, Rhubarb and Raspberry Cheesecake, Pineapple, Coriander and Coconut Sponge Cake, Chocolate Mint Cake, Cassis Meringue and Malabar Marshmallows 

Head to the Sketch website  for more information or to book the Tea In The Woods afternoon tea.

Disney’s Into The Woods is released on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 18th May 2015 courtesy of The Walt Disney Company

I'm really sad that we missed this event as this afternoon tea adventure looks amazing! We'd love to hear from you if you decide to give it a try!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea...Sketch

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends, this time I wanted to share our latest afternoon tea adventure when we visited Sketch in London.

I have heard lots about the quirky tea on offer at Sketch and was keen to try it for myself, so recently Alex, Becca and myself headed into London for a spot of tea! Conceived by French master chef Pierre Gagnaire and restaurateur Mourad Mazouz, Sketch first opened in 2012 and has been offered quirky food, drink and entertainment ever since. Sketch is made up of several different rooms, all with a different feel and all full of amazing art installations. Its a feast for the eyes as well as the belly!

On the day we visited Sketch we enjoyed our afternoon tea in the glade, which is a magical woodland bar...think beautiful painted trees on the walls, lots of green and gorgeous 50s rattan furniture. It's a really relaxing environment to enjoy tea in. The crockery, cups and teapots used were all glass and very modern, but suited the environment - we particularly liked the cups.

Afternoon tea - Sketch 

Liquid refreshment came in the form of an optional Dubonnet & Gin cocktail, along with a good selection of black, white, green and oolong teas. I loved that the teapots were glass, this was especially pretty for Becca's tea choice which was a flowering tea. We were advised on the perfect brewing time for each tea by our waitress, which I think is always a good sign.

Afternoon tea stands - Sketch

When the stands are presented they were quite spectacular, with a great variety of items included. The waitress talks you through the whole stand, highlighting if something is warm and needs to be enjoyed first.

Despite my sweet tooth I really felt that the savoury selection was the highlight of this tea, offering a great selection of savouries featuring a range of flavours and textures

The afternoon tea savouries - Sketch

The savouries included a selection of rather scrummy finger sandwiches:

smoked salmon and Jacob’s cream

cucumber, ricotta and asparagus

mozzarella and pesto croque monsieur

egg and mayonnaise, quail egg, caviar

All the savouries were tasty, although the cucumber, ricotta and asparagus was a little too soggy for me.

The croque monsieur was served warm and wrapped in paper and ribbon, it was definitely my favourite savoury item. It was perfectly toasted, not too greasy and those slices of bread were so thin - it was divine and enjoyed by all of us.

The Sketch Croque Monsieur - a masterpiece!

There was one large fruited scone each, served with clotted cream and two jams - fig and strawberry. The jams were both very tasty - but those square scones caused great debate!

Square afternoon tea scones at Sketch

Finally we made it to the top tiers of the stands and the sweet selection.....

Sweet treats at Sketch

If I am honest although these were sweet treats nice, and perfectly sized they didn't really hit the spot and after such a quirky tea they were quite standard! The choice included a pistachio macaroon, an almond and berry tartlet, a coffee éclair, mini strawberry cheesecake in a glass, mousse malabar marshmallows, meringa tarta, raspberry meringue and sketch opera cake. 

They all looked wonderful and were perfectly created, but I was just a little disappointed that they weren't more unusual.

Sweet selection at Sketch Afternoon Tea

This tea costs £34 per person for the standard afternoon tea, or £40 each if you want to indulge in the scrummy gin cocktail. We were offered more of everything, but we didn't really need anything (other than extra cream) as there was so much included.

Everything was fresh and tasted good, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our quirky afternoon tea adventure - I just wish that they were a little more inventive with those sweet treats.

If you want to read more about Sketch and their afternoon tea, visit their website.

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel

PS - have you entered our fab champagne afternoon tea competition yet?