High Tea finds a delightful home in Yardley, Pa.
By: Sally Silverman
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The Pink Petal Tea Room |
THERE is tea, and then there is Tea. The Pink Petal Tea Room in Yardley serves the latter. It’s not a spot of tea or a cup of tea. It is Tea with as many curlicues as possible. Think Victorian. Think Upstairs, not Downstairs. And think pink lots of pink.
A large, single room styled with faux fireplace and antique furnishings, The Pink Petal, which opened a year and a half ago, somewhat resembles an English drawing room. The mullioned bay window in front is swagged with white gauze, and the chandelier and mantelpiece are festooned with delicate silk flowers.
The room accommodates about nine tables, each dressed with a white damask tablecloth that reveals antique valentines under the glass top. The details are delightful. The crystal candleholder is topped with a petite, embroidered shade. The unmatched china teacups, saucers and tiny tea-strainer caddies all have opulent, floral patterning. The mood is light, feminine and refined, with the nicest tables in the front, by the window.
The menu is more extensive than I anticipated. There are Morning Teas, a couple of sandwiches, soups, salads and quiche. Afternoon Tea reigns, however, with five selections that offer tea sandwiches alone, just sweets, or combinations of sandwiches and sweets.
Coffee and hot chocolate are served, but it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to try one of the 30 or so varieties of tea on the menu. Owner Clair Marie Kelly says it’s one of her goals to make people aware of the scope of tea. The loose leaf tea is steeped and served in individual pots. If you don’t care for your choice, it will happily be replaced by another selection. "We need you to love your tea," explains the waitress in her very proper English accent.
One of my tea partners ordered the Victorian Tea ($5.75), a quintet of dainty sandwiches. The tea she ordered, Chai ($2.25), was not to her liking, and it was quickly replaced, as promised, with a fruity herbal tea. My other partner enjoyed the Yardley Afternoon Tea ($15). That, and the Bucks County High Tea ($17.50) I ordered, shared the same three-tiered tray of goodies. The Bucks County, however, includes a bowl of soup, and I was lucky the one choice that day was seafood bisque, rich with a creamy, buttery base and lots of lobster chunks. Both meals also came with a pot of tea. She chose Earl Grey, while I enjoyed a pot of Darjeeling. Those who choose the Bucks County are also treated to a trio of sugar cubes hand-decorated with the tiniest pastel roses I’ve ever seen and an equally special mint.
The tea treats on the tray were appropriately dainty, all with different shapes to add visual interest as well. On the top level were a selection of sandwiches, five for each of us, and the same five that were served with the Victorian Tea: a salmon salad, cranberry-orange bread with cream cheese, egg salad, cucumber, and a little chicken salad tart topped with pineapple. The middle tier cradled two gorgeous scones that were just a bit undercooked in the center.
Tiny bowls of pink-hued homemade mock Devonshire cream (Kelly promises that soon real imported clotted cream will be served) and strawberry preserves were served on the side. The bottom level held the sweets five for each of us made for the Pink Petal by a French pastry chef. The prettiest was the beautifully iced white cake, topped with a butter cream rose. The richest was the dense chocolate truffle. The pinkest was a tiny square of layer cake. The yummiest, for me, was a toss up between the pecan praline shortbread in the shape of a heart and the luscious lemon curd tart.
The food was tasty and ample, although tea is not a meal that is taken purely for sustenance. Its appeal is in the tranquility, the graciousness of the total package.
"When people come here I want them to experience something genteel and wonderful, elegant, peaceful," Ms. Kelly says. "Something that’s quiet and very different from the outside world."
The Pink Petal accomplishes that goal. Like the ambiance, and the cut of the cucumber sandwich, the service is impeccable, down to the starched, embroidered apron on the waitress. Taking Afternoon Tea at The Pink Petal Tea Room is an experience that promotes relaxation and a feeling of indulgence. It is also the quintessential ladies’ outing.
For directions to The Pink Petal Tea Room, click here.