Hi,

Thursday's Evanston lunch had the unintended consequence of revealing a new location for obtaining 'high tea' on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 2-4 PM at the Celtic Knot Public House in Evanston.

Moira's Afternoon Tea

$12.95 per person includes:

Assortment of mini sandwiches: roast beef horseradish cream sauce; egg salad; ham, lettuce and stone ground mustard; smoked salmon cucumber and lemon mayonnaise.

Homemade scones, jam, strawberries and whipped cream with Kerrygold butter.

Selections of mini tarts and cakes

Lot of tease to choose from and drink as much as you like.

Celtic Knot Public House
626 Church Street
Evanston
Tel: 847/864-1679
www.celticknotpub.com

Hi,

I got a flyer in the mail for a caterer who specializes in bringing high tea to your gathering.

Gerri, a native of Ireland, brings an authentic tough to her High Tea with historical accuracy and reverence. Dressed in full Victorian costume, Gerri serves formal tea from an antique English teacart. Traditional finger sandwiches and pastries are exquisitely arranged on fine china, accompanied by Victorian silverware, vintage linens and classical music.

My experience with Gerri's High Tea

High Tea with Gerri
Phone: 847/948-1724
Website: www.HTWG.net

Last weekend, I took my Moms to Infini-Tea in Antioch for lunch. This tea-centric restaurant models itself after a ladies tearoom. There is an extensive menu of tea. If you are remotely doubtful what to order, they have a tea and food pairing crib sheet:



The tea is brought to the table in a pot with a basket filled loose tea leaves fitted inside. Each serving of tea has its own timer, which goes off alerting your server to return to remove the tea baskets. You then have your choice of sugars, lemon and cream to mix into your tea.

As expected, they offer a full tea called 'Royal Treatment' of tea, cup of soup, scone with condiments, finger sandwiches and pastries for $18.95.

We opted for Richland Roast Beef Sandwich with horseradish cream sauce with a cup of mushroom-brie soup:



The sandwich was overwhelmed by the iceberg lettuce, which once it was removed the sandwich was much more flavorful. The mushroom-brie soup was spectacular with a strong mushroom flavor I enjoyed very much.

For dessert we had their Famous Winslow Scones with strawberry preserves, lemon curd and an extra generous allotment of Devon clotted cream because I asked!



After 1:30 PM, their dinner menu activates with classics not always seen: Beef or Duck Wellington, Ham steak with pineapple, chicken pot pie, shrimp dejohnghe and Coquilles St. Jacques. In their menu is a copy of Antioche's BYOB policy:



The owners indicated the BYOB ordinance was their initiative because they wanted clarification to assure they and their customers were legal. Their corkage fee is $3.50 or the equivalent of a pot of tea.

If one finds themselves in Antioch, this is a very nice break, lunch or dinner option.

Infini-Tea
902 Main Street
Antioch, IL 60002
http://www.infini-tea.net
847-395-3520

A few weeks ago I and my better half went to infini-Tea in Antioch for afternoon tea. Our experience was disappointing. The food was quite adequate but the service was terrible.

On the plus side, the presentation was beautiful and we enjoyed the ladies tea house atmosphere a lot. We appreciated the wide tea offerings and their pairing suggestions mentioned previously.

We waited for 20 minutes two or three times to get someone's attention for water refills and for the bill. While we normally appreciate relaxed service when we go out to tea- our experience was downright inattentive. When we spoke with the manager on the way out, he offered no apologies or asked for further explanations but rather dismissively offered excuses.

Since the food was fine, we will try it again in hopes it was a rather off day for their service.

On a funny note- we too loved the mushroom-brie bisque. Two days later we were at Costco and what did we see in their refrigerated case but mushroom-brie bisque. It was the exact same soup! Apparently, at least some of their food is not as house-made as they might like one to believe.

dvrstygrl wrote:On a funny note- we too loved the mushroom-brie bisque. Two days later we were at Costco and what did we see in their refrigerated case but mushroom-brie bisque. It was the exact same soup! Apparently, at least some of their food is not as house-made as they might like one to believe.

Great! I wouldn't mind having more without driving out there. I had peeked into the kitchen where they had a chart of items to reorder with Sam's Club as one of their vendors.

We didn't have the service issues you experienced. The tables and chairs are pretty close together. Their ability to serve the front three tables required me to tuck in my chair each and every time. Unless it was the skinny male owner, then he could snake in easily enough.

Did you notice just down the street was Las Vegas?



I stopped in to Las Vegas as well as The Vault down the street. Both were family dining Greek restaurants. Infini-Tea seemed to break the mold of pedestrian offerings. Another place which caught my interest was Oliverii North, which indicated it was a pizzeria and trattoria on their siding. It was not open for lunch on Saturdays.

Oliverii North
384 Lake Street
Antioch, IL 60002
847-395-9999

Hi,

Lately I have been present for the final days of several enterprises. On Saturday I was present for the last day of the Spice Merchant and Tea Room in Elmhurst, IL.

Arriving on the final day of operations is really not the best introduction to any establishment. You just have the feeling the owners are thinking, "If you had only shown us this enthusiasm earlier, then we wouldn't be closing today." Fortunately the closing of the bricks and mortar location is not the end of the story because they have an internet presence. If anyone came for marked down merchandise, then they were sure to be disappointed. They only offered a 10 percent discount, since they can still sell their wares via their website.

While Spice Merchant is not disappeering entirely, you could sense a feeling of frustration tinged with bitterness this last day. While my visit had been planned earlier, illness had struck our group forcing us to postpone. While we knew it was their final day in advance, I cannot really recommend going to a restaurant on their closing day.

While the intent was to have tea, I had missed breakfast in a break neck effort to do Saturday chores in a few hours. When I arrived dainty sandwiches were not going to hit the mark. I decided to have their Ploughman's lunch followed by sides of scones and cakes to end in a tea-like fashion. Unfortunately there was no Ploughman's lunch or lunch salad available on this last day. Instead I ordered the Demi Tea with the expectation I might go to the upscale carry out shop nearby for a sandwich.

Demi Tea came to the table on three tiers: crustless sandwiches on the bottom, scones in the middle, with cookies and petit fours on top. We received sandwiches filled with chicken salad, cucumber and egg salad. Oddly some sandwiches we had only three portions and others we had far more, making it impossible for everyone to nibble a sandwich of each type. When we asked the waitress if she could possibly substitute some sandwiches for others. She explained while the menu promises three sandwiches, they don't promise variety. She wasn't interested in making this easy for us, which I guess you can feel comfortable doing on your last day.

Full Tea $20.95

With your personal pot of tea you will be served:
• An assortment of tea sandwiches
• 3 scones with double Devon cream and fruit jam or preserves
• An assortment of mini pastries

Demi Tea $13.95
With your personal pot of tea you will be served:
•3 of tea sandwiches
• 2 scones with double Devon cream and fruit jam or preserves
•1 mini pastry

Light Tea $12.50
With your personal pot of tea you will be served:
• 3 scones with double Devon cream and fruit jam or preserves
• An assortment of mini pastries

Decadent Tea $7.50
With your personal pot of tea you will be served:
• An assortment of mini pastries

Cream Tea
With your personal pot of tea you will be served:
• 3 scones with double Devon cream and fruit jam or preserves $7.95
• 2 scones with double Devon cream and fruit jam or preserves $6.95
• 2 scones plain $5.95

While a pot of tea was included the tea, teas were selected from a separate menu with several varieties under each heading: black tea, green tea, flavored black teas, decaf black teas, oolong tea and white tea. The White Tea had some interesting selections:

White Lemon: Outstanding China white tea with lemon pieces and lemon flavor. Dick's special blend.
Paradise White: A China white tea with flowers and tropical flavors. Totally refreshing.
Apple Pie White: A China white, Japanese Sencha, and Lung Ching mix with Apple Pie spice and cinnamon.

I didn't really pay attention to these white teas when I was choosing. While curious combinations, I am more of a tea purist. I selected their Spice Merchant Darjeeling, which came from the Margaret Hope Estate. The pedigree coming from a specific estate reminded me of the discussion in the Noka Chocolate Report. Whatever the pedigree of this Darjeeling tea, it was very good with two additional pots ordered shared between two people and not a drop was left.

The presentation of the tea was in china pots with the spent tea leaves already removed and quilted tea cozies to insulate the pot.

Again I cannot recommend attending a restaurant on their final days. While there was a stiff upper lip by the staff, they were not flexible in working with the customers. I have to believe, or at least hope, they had better days with better customer service when the black crepe of closing was nowhere to be seen.

Spice Merchant and Tea Room (Shop closed, internet sales live and kicking)
108 W Park Ave
Elmhurst, IL 60126
(630) 941-7288

From Chicago Magazine's Dish e-mail blast:

Leaves in the South Loop
Tea drinkers, your prayers have been answered. Hi Tea (14 E. 11th St.; 312-880-0832), a café/store dedicated to the rich history of tea, opened in March in the South Loop. “Inside our cases we have traditional Japanese, Chinese, English, Irish, Scottish, and Persian tea-service items,” says John Daley, a partner. The 30-seat space also has a full kitchen. “People are surprised to find hearty baguettes, sandwiches, and panini. We make our baguettes, scones, and shortbreads every day.” Other bonuses include more than 50 private label teas from Sri Lanka to Argentina; a wide variety of red bush tea; and sweet almond cream, a noncaffeinated alternative.

Cathy2 wrote:From Chicago Magazine's Dish e-mail blast:

Leaves in the South Loop
Tea drinkers, your prayers have been answered. Hi Tea (14 E. 11th St.; 312-880-0832), a café/store dedicated to the rich history of tea, opened in March in the South Loop. “Inside our cases we have traditional Japanese, Chinese, English, Irish, Scottish, and Persian tea-service items,” says John Daley, a partner. The 30-seat space also has a full kitchen. “People are surprised to find hearty baguettes, sandwiches, and panini. We make our baguettes, scones, and shortbreads every day.” Other bonuses include more than 50 private label teas from Sri Lanka to Argentina; a wide variety of red bush tea; and sweet almond cream, a noncaffeinated alternative.

Stopped into Hi-Tea yesterday. My first thought was that it seemed a hipper, smaller (and probably better) version of Panera: generally healthy sandwich-type foods, free wi-fi, pierced/fully tatted student-types sitting next to women in business suits, that sort of thing. There is a very extensive range of teas, which they take the time to properly prepare, and you can even use a checklist to self-prescribe some ayurvedic selections that might help you achieve the perfect spiritual balance that I've long enjoyed.

Parking is very difficult; I chatted with the manager, and it seems their marketing plan was to get in early and then wait for the millions to move into near-by condos (which are, indeed, going up very rapidly -- I walked past several nascent monstro-plexes on my way from Hi-Tea to Canady le Chocolatier to fetch hand-crafted bonbons for The Wife).

Their minimalist site: http://www.hiteachicago.com/Site/%28312%298800-TEA.html

Hammond

I am making an afternoon tea wedding shower for a friend. I have finalized it to two locations; The Celtic Knot in Evanston or Seasons of Long Grove in Long Grove. I was wondering if anyone has been to one/both and could tell me which they enjoyed more. Thanks for the help!

I have not been to Seasons recently, but when I went there maybe 2 years ago I was so disappointed I haven't been back since. Service was ssslllooow and the food was not special. That being said for a special event, you will likely get better service, and perhaps can customize the menu. At the time they also had a very nice harpist playing and a wall full of hats that everyone could wear. "dress-up" hats if you weren't obsessive about the possibility of lice....
Again it was in 2005, so it's not the most current of info-
Last year I had a wonderful and delicious tea downtown at the Drake,
and have never been to the Celtic Knot, but perhaps someone else out there has...

Any updated suggestions? Considering Celtic Knot in Evanston, but would love downtown as well, especially since CK is only available on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

I have been to Infini-teas in Antioch a couple of times recently and it is very nice- scones are wonderful, pastries not as much-
teas- an incredible selection - It is also nice not to battle the downtown traffic- but depending on where you are Antioch may be WAY out the way for you.
http://www.infini-tea.com/pdf_files/Menu.9.10.pdf

Downtown-they are all expensive-all need reservations
Love the Drake- beautiful setting- delicious food
Ritz-food was a little precious for me- who SLICES a blueberry??? really? I can just imagine some poor sous in the back room slicing blueberries.
Peninsula- had a fabulous add on of something warm and chocolate- souffle thingy , also music on the balcony above-but again very $$

if you are going with a little girl- American Girl place does a cute tea with the dolls and girls

I have not been back to Seasons in Long Grove, but would be interested to hear of anyone's recent experience there.

Just a note that Suzettes in Wheaton serves a fancy tea. I dare not say High tea.

I have eaten there and had their tea service but not a full tea, as I had tea with lunch.


The link is below.

http://suzettescreperie.com/menu_tea.html