An invitation like none other! Now when it comes to tea parties, I have indulged in my fair share. High tea at the Ritz. Tea at The Four Seasons. Afternoon tea in London and tea at sundown in a castle nestled away in the Lake District. Tea in Ukraine. Tea in Germany. Tea for twelve straight days at a melange of sidewalk cafés, local pubs and lavish hotels in Dublin. Tea from a thermos bottle overlooking a seascape. Tea while hiking a mountain trail. Scrumptious, beautiful tea celebrations served by a myriad of friends over the years. But tea in Bangkok (who would have thought?) at the Chocolate Buffet might take the cake. (Pun intended.)
Two mama's shared a brand new baby and the joys of motherhood at an early Mother's Day celebration. The Chocolate Buffet, at the Sukhothai hotel in Bangkok, from two o'clock til five each day, is host to tea-time delights that are truly culinary and artistic masterpieces. An entire table, centred with a ravishing arrangement of colorful, fragrant flowers, displayed savory options like prawns with yam gazpacho, egg-salad-filled charcoal buns, shrimp and potato fritters, little tuna boats, adorable cucumber sandwiches, sushi bites, salmon-filled crescents with goat cheese and cranberries. Tucked between the tiers of opulent offerings were bowls of olives, pistachios, sunflower seeds and nuts as well as interesting sauces for slathering or dipping. Pineapple and cantaloupe slices and watermelon cubes with feta, made for colorful touches on each plate we composed, and also helped to "cleanse the palate" as we drifted back and forth between sweet and savory sensations.
On the other side of the atrium, a buffet table laden with pastries, cakes, tortes, eclairs and candies (mostly of the chocoalte persuasion) held the spotlight. Willy Wonka, eat your heart out. Adjacent to the vats of chocolate (dark, milk, and white) fondue, marshmallows, apricots and prunes (yes prunes!) were skewered, ready for dipping. (We were relieved to not see any crickets-on-a-stem which actually are flaunted ppas a delicacy in some less-Western-influenced establishments.)
(Hmmmm, why try a cutting of blood orange marshmallow strip when all this chocolate is up for grabs?!)
You can well imagine that this mother-daughter team cozied right up to the executive pastry chef who was actually on site creating made-to-order hot chocolate drinks, a process he developed. We were offered a tasting and then selected chocolate (or mixtures) from twenty-some geographic areas with varied cocoa-sugar ratios. Chef Laurent melted and blended our picks, stirring and adding accoutrements like hazelnut or sea salt or whipped cream. Decadence reached a whole new level. We loved learning from this Swiss Chocolatier who has been at his profession for thirty years and whose eyes sparkle when he relates his penchant for developing new recipes, like chocolate wasabi sorbet.
Laurent's engaging chit-chat is part of the gift he offers to the guests at the Chocolate Buffet. He related that the record for drinking the most hot chocolates was held by a nine year old boy who, left to his own devises one day, downed thirteen of the syrupy creations. His slightly concerned mother, a hotel guest, phoned up the chef next day to find out if any one else may have reported not feeling well, suggesting there might have been a questionable item on the menu. She hung up the phone abruptly when she learned it was only her little darling's greed that had him feeling under the weather. We ladylike ladies were not about to suffer such an ill fate. So, yes, we polished off our tea (Mandy's was an iced floral selection and mine a lovely fragrant jasmine) and decided to end the tête-a-tête with one more silky signature selection ala Chef Laurent.
Footnote: When we finally pulled ourselves away, we laughed at how we might have spent a similar amount of time and money attending a concert or the theatre and how we would have walked away when it was over carrying only a memory with us. This event's tangible take-away could be with us for awhile, right here on those hips and thighs. The taxi took three hours to make the five mile trip home that day. We regretted not sticking a few truffles in our bags for the ride, although walking might have worked off some calories. Oh well, the truffles would have melted in the 99 degree heat, had we walked. And somehow, this day was all about indulgence!
