Sunday, February 28, 2016

Celebrating Tea in San Diego

Team Darjeeling

Celebrating Tea in San Diego

Before going to Martha's to do our Gentlemen's Tea, I visited a dear friend in San Diego.  She was my mother's best friend for fifty years and I continue to visit her every 1-2years, though my mother's been gone ten years.  We have a delightful time- talking about life, old memories and my mom, politics, family and our dear animals.  She is 92year old and starting to have memory problems sometimes, so I want to visit more frequently now.


I've taken her to tea a couple of times before and we always have fun, so this visit I called Aubrey Rose Tea Room spur-of-the-moment on Saturday afternoon and, amazingly, they had one table left!  We quickly dressed and drove over for Afternoon Tea.  It was a beautiful day, with blue, blue sky and bright sunshine streaming through the windows.


They were happy to prepare my tea in the Traveling TARDIS and I chose Assam black tea.  Fern had English Breakfast.  They put each pot on a warming stand.


We ordered the Lady Anne Afternoon Tea for two.  Our waiter was charming and attentive, refreshing our cups as she walked by, despite being very busy on this day before Valentine's Day, and the food was beautifully presented on the tiered tray, and oh so yummy.


The Savories Plate had sandwiches of egg salad on wheat, and cucumber and cream cheese on white, crostini with artichoke heart, garlic and cheese, a small cheddar and herb scone and sun-dried tomato palmerie.  The scone was cranberry with orange glaze, served with lemon curd and homemade cream and fresh fruit.  On the Sweeties Plate on top were chocolate shortbread cookies topped with chocolate mousse, red velvet cupcakes and bread pudding with a whiskey sauce and whipped cream.  Everything was delicious, we were stuffed, saying we couldn't eat another bite yet we both managed to eat everything and drink our teapots dry.

We had a lovely memorable afternoon enjoying the beautiful day, the charming tearoom and delicious tea and food, and ambling along the street, going in and out of antique shops.  Fern told several people back at the condo about our "glorious afternoon" of tea and goodies. We were so full from our tea meal that we never ate dinner that evening!

Colleen




10 comments:

  1. And what's not to enjoy at Aubrey Rose! It looks like you are having a wonderful time. Lorna's tiered servers are always so neat and pretty with fresh flowers and herbs. So happy you and your friend could share tea there.

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  2. What a lovely place to take your friend to tea. I have been to tea at Aubrey Rose and know Lorna (the owner). It is a wonderful tearoom. Thanks for sharing this very special day.

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  3. A visit to the Aubrey rose is always a good one, I think. I get great pleasure in knowing they are still doing well. Somewhere I still have some photos of the owners when they were at Monica MIller's American Tea Society Symposium in Boulder CO just before they opened the place. I think Marilyn Miller was at that one too.We went to Dushanbee Tea House while we were there, too.

    It is wonderful that you can take your Mom's friend to such a nice tea room and have a good visit with her too. Having them make your tea in the Tardis is extra special.

    Eve

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  4. Very lovely...I have always wanted to visit there!

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  5. So sweet and your friend looks absolutely fabulous!
    Rochelle, ATAA

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  6. My favorite tea room with sweetest memories! I spent my first 20 years of marriage in that town; it is my husband's hometown and we visit there often. Strolling the shops surrounding the tea room either before or after tea is such fun!

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  7. What a lovely and memorable afternoon tea. Thank you for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. I love the tea room and what a wonderful visit you had with your mother's friend. It is so sweet of you to stay in contact.
      Sips and Smiles,

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  8. How lovely, I enjoy The Aubrey Rose too. It's right in my hometown!

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  9. Thank you everyone! Yes Fern looks fabulous for 92yo- we can all only hope for the same! She's been a sheer delight to know and always able to charm everyone, even now with the bits of memory lapses. I love the Aubrey Rose- always consistent and excellent service. San Diego is one of the prettiest cities I've ever known. I'm from 2hr east and so SD was too close to home when I went away to college- so I ended up in the Bay Area.

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