It was Oscar Sunday and we wanted something a little glamorous.
And what could be more glamorous than afternoon tea at one of Boston’s fanciest, most sophisticated institutions? So we booked a Fantasy Tea Party at L’Espalier. I mean, afternoon tea at L’Espalier – even just saying it makes me feel all swanky and proper. Like I’m the type who never suffers from hang-overs on Sunday morning, the type who eats dainty tea sandwiches, the type who, you know, saunters over to the Mandarin hotel for a little afternoon snack. Which I am, obviously.
I was with my friend Mich, event and lifestyle writer, blogger for The Unmarked Door, and my regular partner in crime. We had scheduled an afternoon for shopping and catching up, and we were fueled by the many wonderful tea snacks we had.
the beautiful lobby
L’Esplaier’s weekend tea offers three options: Red Riding Hood’s Basket (canapes, tea sandwiches, pastries, petit fours, and tea), Make Way for Ducklings (petit fours, pastries, and tea), and Three Blind Mice (cheese tasting). Each option has enough food for one person, but of course we wanted to pick a couple and share (because when is food not better when shared??). Mich and I decided to split the Red Riding Hood and the Three Blind Mice.
Our server, Dipu, offered to pace it out so that we get the canapes and sandwiches first, then the cheese course, and end with the pastries. L’Espalier also generously doubled the serving for the first course – so we ended up with more food than we expected!
selection of tea sandwiches
lobster salad on a home-made pretzel roll
egg salad on brioche
smoked salmon
I’ve heard many good things about the lobster roll but I wasn’t head over heels for it. The pretzel roll was really good, but the whole thing was just a little messy to eat so it wasn’t my favorite. I’m a sucker for brioche and anything egg though so I really enjoyed the egg salad slider – even if it had onions, which I normally don’t like! My top pick was the smoked salmon canape – and not just because it was bite-size, but because I really like salmon :)
for my tea, I chose the Crimson Berry
Our next course was the cheese plate. L’Espalier’s cheese selection has been nationally recognized, and I was really excited to do the tasting.
the cheese tray in full glory
Dipu was very knowledgeable about the cheeses and even chatted with us about his favorites. I am on a roll, lucking out with the wonderful servers lately: last week with Oleana and then L’Espalier. I was definitely expecting high quality service from a place like this, but it was very refreshing to encounter friendly and welcoming staff. I used to think that such a highbrow place would be stuffy and intimidating, but it was actually very relaxing and pleasant.
my favorites were the blue cheese and gouda
the cheese accompaniments were multi-grain bread, white wine apricots, honey, and roasted pecans
Then the cuteness arrived. And by this I don’t mean the group of 12 year old girls at the next table celebrating a birthday… Now that was extremely fancy; I certainly didn’t have any girly tea parties at hotels when I was that age. When I was 12, I was collecting NBA basketball cards and watching WWE (what? you didn’t think Bret “the Hitman” Hart was cute?). Anyway while the girls were adorable, what I meant was the pastries.
assortment of mini scones...
...assortment of pastries
... and a lovely little fromage blanc cherry trifle
It was the perfect cherry on top of our wonderful afternoon. Mich and I really enjoyed our tea rendezvous. In fact we enjoyed L’Espalier so much that we signed up for one of their Top Shelf, Top Chef Series! Mich called it our Red Carpet Sunday.
we knew this was a sign that Black Swan would win the Oscars!
Hi! I’m Bianca Garcia. I love food, running, yoga, sangria, and my job. I'm an advertising professional, social media enthusiast, blogger, freelance writer, and obsessive list-maker. I think about dessert constantly. 
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This looks like such an awesome afternoon. I’ve been to L’Espalier for dinner and for several of their events. I’ve definitely got to check out their afternoon tea!
Wow, I definitely need to do this. The food is pretty much my fantasy.
I thought I was going to be wowed by the pastry photos – which I was – but the lobster (pretzel) roll makes me want to run up to Boston and go there immediately. Sounds like a delightful experience
This looks like so much fun! The service sounds great as well.
Wow, this seems like the perfect Sunday activity. Those lobster and egg salad sandwiches look SO good. and the pastries. and the cheeses. I’m seeing visions of my (daytime) 30th birthday celebration before my eyes!!
I officially NEED to attend and event at L’espalier, and this is looking like the one. such a fun afternoon!
I feel like having afternoon tea just makes the day more upscale. And gourmet. And classy.
And when the tea is accompanied by pastries and petit fours and cute little sandwiches this good? Well that’s definitely Academy Award-worthy.
This post makes me smile. My inner circle knows I am a complete High Tea Officianado…and snob. I haven’t been to the L’Espalier High Tea in years, but I remember it as fabulous! I have absolutely GOT to try that cheese course!! Thanks for this post!
I love high tea! I’ve done it once in London (the ultimate) and once in Phoenix, so much fun!
Sounds like a really fun afternoon!
This looks amazing! I need to get my afternoon tea fix here!
MUST go! Everything looks fabulous. I love those pretzel rolls as it is… but with lobster? Fabulous! Great review!
That place is so cute!
Tea looks wonderful and tea at L’espalier has always been on my “to-do” list, but I’m howling in laughter over the “Bret the Hitman Hart” comment because yes… when I was 11 or 12, I did think he was cute. Ha!
Bret the Hitman Hart 4EVA.
That looks like so much fun and SO delicious! I love that they served a lobster salad sandwich- usually you think of kind of boring tiny sandwiches for a tea party.
As a lover of sandwiches, I have to say (for once), the sandwiches won me over than desserts! I want to try that lobster salad!
That place looks awesome. I love tea parties. I’ve only been to 2 in my life…need to go to more.
Wow…I want the trifle – and cheese :)
Looks fantastic!
Such an elegant tea is the ultimate treat! I am definitely checking this out sometime.
omg..that is so beautiful and elegant. I love the assortment of tea sandwiches they offer.
What a fun experience – I’m drooling over those scones!
This IS glamourous. I can’t believe I haven’t tried that cheese, it looks ridiculous! And that little pretzel roll, YUM!
How lovely! I think I just discovered what I’d like to do for Mother’s Day this year :)