The week before last I was invited to Sanctuary T, a restaurant on West Broadway here in NYC, for a tea service with other food bloggers. I let them know I couldn’t be there at 3pm due to an important client presentation, but I could get there at 4:45 or so, and would it still be going on? Yes, yes they said, please come. This is a restaurant and bar that serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Whew – they seem never closed! They are known for their innovative approach to using tea as an inspiration and ingredient in their fine food and beverages.
Well my client meeting went even longer than expected and then I walked the wrong way getting out of the subway and arrived at the restaurant at 5:45. The official tea was, of course over, but they were oh so gracious and wanted to serve me anyway. I apologized and teasingly said it was way past tea time and time for cocktails!
They agreed and promptly served up a tea infused martini!! My kinda folks! Dawn Cameron is the owner and truly lovely and then I got to spend time with East, the manager of the restaurant. First off, it was a gorgeous day and they had all the doors wide open to the street. The “martini” was an Earl Grey infused gin with lavender infused angostura bitters and prosecco, served straight up. It was fantastic with the layering of flavors and much lighter in alcohol than a traditional martini. Perfect for a weeknight.
The tea service of sandwiches and sweets was beautiful, as you can see. My favorite was the garbanzo puree and kale chip and the traditional scone with roasted strawberries and clotted cream was to die for. There must have been 1000 calories in those few bites but no matter, I couldn’t stop eating it. The scone was so buttery, delicious and rich, it didn’t really need anything, yet I still put on the wonderful clotted cream and strawberries. I asked the chef how he roasted the berries but he wasn’t giving away any secrets. I was also excited to try the truffled egg salad but I couldn’t really taste or smell the truffle oil. And then the Nutella filled bomboloni was a little piece of heaven. I had the remaining sweets and sandwiches wrapped up to take home and share with my husband
After having a lovely conversation with East all through this, he suggested I try a real tea. I went for a tiramisu rooibos. They served it in a tall thermal sealed glass with a rock sugar stick – very pretty as you can see.
See that little box there on the left – that’s their tea timer – each side has a different time for the different types of tea and the color of the sand tells you what’s what. Very clever. East said so many people love these custom hand made timers that most of them got stolen. Sad.
This is a lovely place – perfect for private bridal showers – which East said they do a lot of. I must bring Steve back for lunch or dinner. But taking a break in the afternoon for tea and little nibbles and sweets is truly a welcome pause from the fast-moving events of everyday life. We all function at such a hectic pace, I recommend you try this place out when you can.
We are in the country right now and will head back to the city soon. Since Zach is in Austria, our oldest and his girlfriend are cooking up a Father’s Day dinner for Steve. He has requested Beef Wellington. I made that dish once for Steve’s birthday several years back and I’m delighted that I’m not doing it tonight! It is labor intensive. I’ll report on our evening later this week.
Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there!!
