Strange how trends come around. The classic afternoon tea has had its ups and downs over the years – there were times when it seemed to have passed almost completely out of fashion, holding on in just a few upmarket traditional haunts like The Ritz. When I was a boy, a posh afternoon tea was the ultimate dream for people like my mother and her West Country friends but, decades later, working as a writer, I somehow managed to ignore the existence of these very British and grand repasts for years on end.
Now they are back. My daughter and her friends, for example, will occasionally devote an entire day off in their busy lives to enjoy this very British afternoon ritual, Instagramming everything as they make their way through the dainty sandwiches, cakes and pastries. She turned green with envy the other day when I told her that I may have recently discovered the best grand afternoon tea in all of England.
Which is a big claim too make...
Could the classic afternoon tea served at the Harbour Loft on really be the best in the land? For a start, I suppose you could argue that an island off the coast isn’t really “in the land”. But that’s being pedantic and, anyway, there are good reasons I make the claim. For a start, this well-known restaurant has now devoted itself to the unique and complex art-form of the afternoon tea.
Which surprised me because, half a dozen years ago, I visited the establishment to meet the dynamic young head chef, onetime heavy-metal rock band lea.