A Timeless Tradition
BY ELIZABETH BRIGNAC
The holiday season is the perfect time of year to gather with friends and family and enjoy a formal afternoon tea, where hotels or restaurants serve quality tea in individual teapots next to delicate china cups. Visitors are served delectable food items on three-tier tea stands: a savory course with tea sandwiches; a scones course with cream and jam; and a desserts course with small cakes, tarts and other treats. The whole affair invites patrons to focus on details—the beauty of the china and elegant presentation of the food; the delicious nuances of the tea and the intricate flavors of the sandwiches and treats.
During the holiday season, venues go all-out in creating a warm, festive atmosphere that fits well with the afternoon tea tradition. Wake County offers several opportunities for people who want to enjoy holiday afternoon tea. Each venue takes a unique approach to integrating the beauty and flavors of the holiday season into its tea experience.
Please note that the venues described here require reservations, and many fill up weeks in advance. If you would like to partake, don’t wait too long to get in touch.
The Umstead Hotel and Spa Afternoon Tea & Tea with Santa
Afternoon Tea is held daily during the holiday season. Tea with Santa is held on Saturdays and Sundays during December.
The Umstead Hotel prides itself on its beautiful holiday decorations. Each year, it brings in several Christmas trees decorated in a classical style and garnishes the furniture with magnolia leaf garlands and other seasonal ornamentation. “People come to The Umstead specifically for the holiday decor,” says Lori Grow, who manages Herons restaurant at The Umstead and has run the hotel’s afternoon teas for the past few years.
Starting after Thanksgiving, a musician plays holiday music on the harp or piano during afternoon tea. Desserts are flavored and decorated with seasonal flourishes, and the entire atmosphere takes on a special warmth and beauty. When added to The Umstead’s specially patterned teacups and teapots and Herons’ exquisite cuisine, holiday teas at The Umstead become works of art in themselves.
Tea with Santa takes place 12 times per season, including one event designated specifically for local Boys and Girls Clubs. At these family events, adults accompany their children as they enjoy child-friendly treats and meet Santa. Families let Santa in on special details about the kids’ lives—their pets and favorite teachers, for example—that Santa can discuss with the children at the event, adding to the magic. Children receive cups of cocoa, along with additions like marshmallows and chocolate shavings they can add to their cups. (Adults are given cocoa as well, with optional Grand Marnier). This event is designed to be a special tradition for the entire family.
The Umstead Hotel and Spa
100 Woodland Pond Drive, Cary
theumstead.com/dining/afternoon-tea
North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) Gingerbread Tea
December 8, 15, 20–22.
The NCMA offers several teas during the year, including Gingerbread Tea during the holiday season. Jill Santa Lucia, president and culinary director of Catering Works, which provides food onsite, loves doing formal tea. “It’s kind of my baby,” she says. “I keep adding to it.”
The Gingerbread Tea does emphasize holiday flavors—“There will be notes of pumpkin and gingerbread; cranberries and everything Christmas,” says Santa Lucia—but it is called Gingerbread Tea because they showcase a gingerbread house decorating contest held by the Catering Works staff. About 20 people have participated in previous years. Guests can enjoy the gingerbread houses and vote on their favorites. The event also includes cookie decorating—ostensibly for the kids, but adults are often enthusiastic participants.
Mrs. Ruth’s Jams, a local jam producer, creates unique, seasonal jams for the tea’s scones course. Santa Lucia uses an eclectic variety of cups and saucers in her decor, 3-tiered tea stands, and other details that add to the unique look of each table. Her goal is elegance and cohesion, with a touch of playfulness. “One thing that is fun about tea,” she says: “There’s a whimsy to it.”
NCMA East Building Cafe
2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh
ncartmuseum.org/visit/dine
Heights House Hotel Afternoon Tea
Dates and times vary.
Heights House Hotel sets itself apart through its commitment to detail. Each decorative item and piece of china is hand-selected, usually by co-owner Sarah Shepherd. “She has a real eye for it, and she also just loves shopping for vintage stuff,” says Anna Forno, Heights House’s in-house events coordinator.
Heights House afternoon teas are popular throughout the year, but especially during the holiday season. “For the whole month of December, all of our afternoon teas are Christmas themed. So we have all Christmas china for that, and that’s really fun,” says Forno. She adds that the china the hotel uses for its holiday teas is “vintage Christmas china, handpicked from various shops and sources across Raleigh. The mismatched china adds a charming and festive touch to the experience.”
During December, the historic house is decorated with a large holiday tree, garlands and other seasonal decor. “We like playing classic Christmas songs to create a cozy, nostalgic atmosphere,” says Forno. People visiting for the tea can add holiday cocktails from the Parlor to their tea experience, and can stay afterward to enjoy drinks and other items from the Parlor menu.
Examples of holiday foods offered this year include buttery almond shortbread tarts filled with bourbon pecan pie custard, assorted nuts and candied fruits, “fruitcake” tarts, and cream puffs filled with eggnog custard. The tea options include seasonal flavors. “Last year, we served three specialty holiday teas from Rishi Tea: pumpkin spice, cocoa mint and cinnamon plum. This year, we plan to offer holiday teas again, [including] any new seasonal blends that Rishi introduces,” says Forno.
Heights House Hotel
308 S. Boylan Avenue, Raleigh
heightshousenc.com/experience/afternoon-tea
Sugar Magnolia Café Tea
Afternoon tea offered daily, Tuesday–Saturday.
Variety characterizes the afternoon tea at Sugar Magnolia Café. “We really try to make it an experience for everyone,” says owner Amy Stephens. Sugar Magnolia offers variations on the traditional afternoon tea courses. The full tea service offers a salad as part of the savory course—an unusual addition—and patrons do not need to order a full tea if they prefer a lighter experience. They might limit the order to a single sandwich and desserts, for example, or order the scone and desserts without the savory course. Visitors may also substitute coffee or espresso drinks for tea.
The cafe offers two children’s tea services. Both include either hot cocoa or lavender lemonade with edible glitter—both served, naturally, in elegant teacups. (Younger children may use fancy paper teacups and saucers if their families prefer.) The children’s tea includes simple desserts like chocolate chip cookies and brownies. One variation offers kid‑friendly sandwiches as well. Kids’ teas include take-home tiaras and wands for girls, and toy cars for boys.
The china at Sugar Magnolia connects visitors to the community. “I never imagined that people would donate fine china to us because they wanted it to go to a good home,” says Stephens, but much of the cafe’s china has come through donations, including Stephens’ favorite: Spode Bridal Rose. This detail adds to the community feel of tea at Sugar Magnolia.
During the holiday season, Sugar Magnolia Café enters into the downtown Wake Forest holiday excitement. “The town almost looks like a little Hallmark town during the holiday season. Everybody decorates their windows. Our cafe is fully decked out end-to-end with Christmas decorations,” says Stephens. “Our pastry chef will focus on seasonal treats that will put anyone in the holiday spirit,” she adds, including desserts like peppermint brownie truffles and gingerbread petit fours. The menu offers holiday spiced tea, and customers may add holiday-themed prosecco drinks like the Poinsettia, which includes cranberry and orange juices along with swirls of edible glitter.
Sugar Magnolia Café
219 S. White Street, Wake Forest
sugarmagnoliacafe.com/tea-service
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