Steinbeck House serves Afternoon Tea

Restaurant invites visitors to sit back and take part in a British-style experience

No need to utter “raw-tha” with a stiff upper lip nor to carry a copy of the Financial Times of London.

Guests can speak home-grown Salinas dialect and still be a neat fit for a new event hosted by the Steinbeck House Restaurant.

That would be Afternoon Tea.

It includes British essentials - scones, jams, Devonshire cream, bite-sized sandwiches, quiche, desserts, fine china plus all the civility one can muster.

“People asked us to do a tea, so we’re trying it,” said Eleanor Royal of the Valley Guild, the non-profit that owns the Steinbeck House and runs its restaurant.

Afternoon Tea, in other words, is an experiment, one that will run at least into September, Royal said. Already it has shown promise, with the Mother’s Day version drawing 50 guests.

“Afternoon Tea is a relaxing time,” said Beth Stevens, catering chairman. “You chat and eat and taste good food” prepared by Agustin Rodriguez, Steinbeck House Restaurant chef.

Female guests often dress up.

“That’s part of the ambiance,” Stevens said. “You can wear hats, too, and carry a parasol. But you don’t have to dress up. We certainly won’t turn anybody away.”

To add to the atmosphere, Stevens bought lace tablecloths. The bite-sized foods come arrayed on 3-tiered servers.

Afternoon Tea seems a good fit for the Steinbeck House, she said.

It’s easy to imagine people in early Salinas living in grand Victorian homes and hosting tea parties.

In helping develop the idea, Stevens drew on her own tea experience. She’d sipped tea in the elegant Brown’s Hotel in London and in the Brown Palace in Denver.

In London, tea time waiters wore tuxes and served cucumber sandwiches. In Denver, tea came in little sterling silver pots.

“Creamers and sugars were sterling and it was a beautiful tea,” she said.

One point of Afternoon Tea etiquette: Do crook the little finger when elevating the cup to the lips, Stevens said.

This article was taken from: The Californian.com