Tea on the Tiber

When in England, do as the Brits. But, when in Ellicott City and far from the Queen’s country, take high tea at Tea on the Tiber. Although my recollections of England are confined to London’s Heathrow airport, I do surmise that tea time in its native setting could be quite the eloquent experience.

A dear friend and I recently had the privilege of enjoying afternoon tea at Tea on the Tiber. In the midst of an elegant Victorian setting, we couldn’t help but carry on our girlish giggling and artful conversation with a more sophisticated parlance; and, of course, there was plenty of dainty tea sipping and careful finger-food nibbling.

In honor of our British-inspired tea time, I decided to write about our experience in an Elizabethan
sonnet, complete with iambic pentameter. (If you can’t remember all the way back to 11th grade English class, an Elizabethan sonnet is a 14-line form of poetry that follows a specific rhythmic pattern. Within each phrase, there are five “feet” of words or set of words that are dictated through an unaccented syllable, followed by an accented syllable; for example, da DAH, da DAH, da DAH, da DAH, da DAH.) For more of an authentic touch, you may read the following in a British accent, cockney dialect or not, your preference.

The clock strikes three, our table is ready, 

December’s pre-fixed menu awaits us.
Menu pages filled with choices of tea,
We make our decisions without a fuss.

Ginseng peppermint and lemon ginger,
Three-tiered sampler of finest food delights.
Warm scones with spreads, but no torte de linzer,
Fresh fruit, petit fours, sandwiches in sight.

Antipasto bites affixed on skewer,
Havarti cubes, cucumbers with boursin,
We realize we should have eaten fewer,
Save room for cheesecake should have been the plan.

Fine service and tasty noshes to try,
Tea on the Tiber won’t dissatisfy.

Check out my friend Alex’s post with her take on our delightful tea-filled afternoon at Noelani Hwang!