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| Afternoon tea at the Davenport Lounge in the New Orleans Ritz Carlton |
"If you like blues and afternoon tea, I know where you can go and where one sits, Puttin' on the (NOLA) Ritz!"
Although we're taking a some liberties with the classic Irving Berlin tune, "Puttin' on the Ritz", we're here to seriously exclaim, the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans is the place for jazz AND afternoon tea. Two weeks ago, we had the good fortune to experience both.
The Davenport Lounge in the New Orlean's Ritz-Carlton is the home to elegant afternoon teas by day and a boisterous jazz club by night. Because we made the Ritz our home-away-from-home for a week with our good friends, Pam and Quint, we had easy access to the lounge's duel personalities and took advantage of both.
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| Afternoon tea menu |
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| Beautiful hotel lobby with fresh flower arrangements throughout |
Our first full day in New Orleans, we had afternoon tea at the Ritz. The luxury hotel serves tea two times daily (11:00 am and 1:00 pm) and we had made reservations for the first seating. A traditional hotel lobby venue with sumptuous rose velvet sofas and cushy green brocade chairs around a low, glass oval table, the afternoon tea fare was a welcomed twist on classic offerings of scones, savories and sweets.
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| Afternoon tea savories - more "foodie" than Southern (not that there's anything wrong with that). |
The savories included gourmet tiny bites of smoked salmon mousse in a cucumber cup and roasted fig and goat cheese on a thyme blini - all as delicious as unexpected. More "foodie" than "Southern" - not that there's anything wrong with that - the only nod on the menu to the region was the creole deviled egg and caviar.
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| Fresh baked scones served up with lemon curd, jam and cream. |
The scones were bite-sized as well, biscuit-like and very tasty, served up with jam, lemon curd and cream.
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| Delicious pastries, included two tarts, a tea cake and a chocolate éclair. |
The grand finale was the pastry tray, featuring two tarts (lemongrass passion and chocolate), an orange tea cake and a chocolate caramelia éclair. The presentation was impressive with candied flowers, chocolate shavings and raspberry hearts.
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| Scrumptious desserts with impressive presentation. |
We shared a few pots of Earl Grey, which was served in teapots tagged with descriptions of the tea inside.
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| Pots of tea served with descriptions of the tea tied to the teapot handles. |
Afternoon tea at the New Orleans' Ritz Carlton was a wonderful way to start our week in the Big Easy. When we returned home from our daily excursions, we'd head back to the Davenport Lounge and participate in its evening "alter ego" nightclub, replacing Earl Grey with Sazeracs and listening to live jazz on stage.
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| The Davenport Lounge is home to jazz and cocktails in the evenings. |
Even better, we continued our ritz-y lifestyle back in our lovely accommodations overlooking the hotel's courtyard.
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| Staying at the Ritz, allows for the luxury lifestyle to continue. Drinking tea in our room that overlooked the courtyard. |
It's always a treat to take a break from the routine, put on the glass slippers and go to the ball. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Ritz-Carlton, afternoon tea, jazz and ALL! We're ready to go back anytime.
"Come with me, to afternoon tea, jazz and more, waiting through the doors, Puttin' on the (New Orleans) Ritz!"
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