{"id":1024,"date":"2010-05-06T14:12:17","date_gmt":"2010-05-06T18:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=1024"},"modified":"2010-05-06T14:12:17","modified_gmt":"2010-05-06T18:12:17","slug":"dining-afternoon-tea-at-the-intercontinental-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/dining-afternoon-tea-at-the-intercontinental-hotel\/","title":{"rendered":"DINING: AFTERNOON TEA AT THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

AFTERNOON TEA AT THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL<\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for something special to do this Mother\u2019s Day, or any Thursday-Sunday, actually, look no further than Afternoon Tea at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. I\u2019ve had tea there two times recently and I can truly say it\u2019s a special experience, whether or not you\u2019ve ever had afternoon tea before.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, I want to give them props for knowing that \u201cafternoon\u201d is the correct term–most people, very erroneously, refer to this meal as \u201chigh\u201d tea. They must have been high<\/em> when they first heard about it because what we in this country have as an afternoon treat is far from being \u201chigh tea.\u201d High tea is basically a hearty supper that\u2019s eaten after 6PM, and consists of manly peasant dishes, such as sausage rolls and meat pies. The InterContinental staff is one of the few I\u2019ve encountered who know the difference. (Maybe that\u2019s because Miranda House, their Director of Entertainment and Events, is herself English.)<\/p>\n

No matter how nutty I am in other categories of life, I take my afternoon tea seriously, and consider myself a true expert in this field. So, when I tell you that this one is one of the best I\u2019ve ever had, please trust me on it. And the warm, welcoming personnel are only the beginning.<\/p>\n

\"The

The lobby<\/p><\/div>\n

The hotel has a separate room off the lobby dedicated to tea service only. Now that the weather is getting gorgeous, I believe you can also take tea (which is the official expression regarding it) in the hotel\u2019s beautiful garden. I\u2019ve been to many functions there (luncheons, cocktail parties, press conferences) and it\u2019s really lovely and peaceful back there. (If you beg, they may even allow tea in the lobby lounge, but then you\u2019ll miss some of the amazing presentations. I\u2019ve done it both ways, and I definitely suggest the tea room itself for you first time.)<\/p>\n

Jose and David, the gents who serve the tea, really know their stuff, let me tell you. They made us feel like serving us tea was their joy in life, and perhaps it is. Just ask Jose about cooking, and he lights up like a Christmas tree! You\u2019ll get your own private cooking class while he creates the last part of the service. (But you\u2019ll have to read on to see what that is.)<\/p>\n

Another good thing about it is that you can either \u201cMake Your Own Tea Set,\u201d in case you don\u2019t eat one component or just want a couple of specific items, or do their set tea service, which I highly recommend because it\u2019s as relaxing as a day at the spa, and, at only $21.50\/person (as of this writing, anyway,) it\u2019s the meal bargain of the century! (Trust me–afternoon tea is usually a whole lot more money and a whole lot less fabulous!)<\/p>\n

\"David

David presenting the cart of flowering teas<\/p><\/div>\n

The InterContinental\u2019s fare follows the set pattern for afternoon tea, (tea, sandwiches, scones, sweets,) but they embellish every aspect, and add one or two. Instead of just bringing you a pot of tea, or just teabags, they have a rolling tea cart set-up and serve only flowering teas. They describe each one and you get to see them in the raw before you choose. (We liked the Golden Jasmine the best, but we loved trying a different one each–you get one pot per person, which is really generous.)<\/p>\n

[Note: Before we had this professional tea, I had just done a small tea at my house for the first group of friends who helped me while Mr. X was out-of-town, (and I was proud to see that I had done it as close to how this hotel does it as possible,) so I\u2019m very familiar with flowering teas. They always wow the crowd.]<\/p>\n

Another special touch is that everything is served on 25-year-old china, the kind that has to be hand-washed! Beautiful accent!<\/p>\n

\"Our

Our table, with all the gorgeous appointments. (We've already started enjoying--can you tell?)<\/p><\/div>\n

The tea sandwich category had something for everyone, and consisted of a variety of shapes, sizes, and breads. We loved them all, so I\u2019ll let you and your friends have the fun of discovering them for yourselves. But I will tell you that even the sandwiches themselves are classier than elsewhere. And, though it\u2019s not listed on the menu, they surprise you with an assortment of savory treats, such as mushroom and salmon mini-quiches. Yum!!!<\/p>\n

Along with the next course of mini-scones, you get lemon cake and my favorite, zucchini bread. And then after you get the sweet treats that would usually finish out the meal, like bite-sized pecan pies and chocolates, you get one more really filling one, so save room because this part is truly special! Jose makes you fresh crepes right at your table!<\/p>\n

\"Jose,

Jose, whipping-up the crepes, table-side.<\/p><\/div>\n

You get a choice of mango jubilee, bananas foster, or crepe suzette, which is orangey and has Grand Marnier. (Again, you should each pick one and share. They\u2019re very sweet and filling–I pour some cream over mine.) And you get to choose toppings, such as chocolate chips and cinnamon, and tell him exactly what you want right there–no going back and forth to the kitchen till they get it right, like at everyplace else.<\/p>\n

I made so many notes of what we all said, but I really feel like you need to discover this wonderfulness for yourself. In this case, it would be like telling you every move at Cirque du Soleil–it\u2019s better to see it for yourself with not many pre-conceived notions.<\/p>\n

In addition to the truly marvelous and patient staff, and all the wonderful comestibles, I must laud them for one more thing–with the actual tea, they serve lemon, two kinds of sugar cubes, honey, milk, and CREAM! That last one is such a rarity! And to have all those choices is amazing–usual you get some sugar packets, period.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t also put in a word about this hotel itself. The whole place is beautiful, and it\u2019s welcoming from the beginning, which is unlike most other luxury hotels. The lobby scene seems to be happening at all times, for all age-groups, not just 20-somethings, and it\u2019s two steps in to the lobby from the valet parking.<\/p>\n

\"Karen

Karen with American Idol's Andrew Garcia<\/p><\/div>\n

And, we saw some of the Idol <\/em>contestants and their families there! I was seriously happy to see Andrew Garcia, the Moreno Valley local who, sadly and wrongfully, had gotten the boot the night before. But he was upbeat and agreeable, so we felt better about his premature leaving.<\/p>\n

So, for the most special experience in all of Los Angeles, whether you go with a couple of friends, a crowd, or even yourself (afternoon tea lends itself to this actually–maybe bring a book,) head to Century City\u2019s easy and classy InterContinental Hotel for afternoon tea. And please tell Jose and David hello for me!<\/p>\n

2151 Avenue of Stars Century City 310-284-6500 www.intercontinentallosangeles.com<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AFTERNOON TEA AT THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL \u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for something special to do this Mother\u2019s Day, or any Thursday-Sunday, actually, look no further than Afternoon Tea at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. I\u2019ve had tea there two times recently and I can truly say it\u2019s a special experience, whether or not you\u2019ve<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-los-angeles-restaurant-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}