Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Russian Tea Room - NYC



Recently, I was lucky enough to take a trip to one of my favorite cities ever: New York City. It seems things there are always changing, evolving. Blocks of shops, cultures abound. Beer, music, people everywhere you look. Yellow cabs and black town cars lining the streets, but this blog is not about all that,  it is not about shopping, or site seeing, it is about the Russian Tea Room. I have missed out on afternoon tea too many times. I really was getting frustrated. So I told my aunt we had to go to tea. It was either the Ritz or the Russian Tea Room.  I wanted something less typical, so I chose the Russian Tea Room. I figured it would be an amazing place full of Russian stuff- I love Faberge eggs and Russian artwork.
My cousin had just graduated from his medical program (Congratulations Dr.!!!) and he was able to join us so the day was going to be great.

When we first arrived we stopped at the bar for a drink. We had Moscow Mules, I felt this was appropriate with us being in the Russian Tea Room. They came to us in typical Moscow Mule mugs and this gave us some time to scope out the place. The room was full of Russian Art, gold and glass. It was very decadent.

When we sat down we ordered which kind of tea we desired. Even though I don't usually drink anything with caffeine I opted for the Darjeeling Tea, it was black tea, and it is the only kind I drink when I drink tea (which is extremely rare). As we sat with tea steeping and having conversations about our jobs, a man came in and sat down behind us. This is a very nice establishment, and I do not want this experience to dampen or make anyone not want to come to this place, but he was carrying a mannequin. Yes, a mannequin. It was very heavy as he lugged it in and out of the booth. At first we thought it was a dead person, because honestly, that is what this mannequin looked like. A dead person. He ordered and sat there. It was interesting how the wait staff and management handled it. They seemed just as baffled by it as we were- yet remained extremely professional. I wanted to take a picture- but yet I really didn't want to be rude. I overheard the man tell the waiter, "No he's not a real person". It all seemed very strange. He ordered, ate, and left. It was very quick and we all watched as he hauled this very heavy life size doll out the door with him.


The first tray of little sandwiches was interesting. I liked them. I had no problem with any of them. It was typical, I guess, I wouldn't know, I had never been to high tea before. Then of course came the scones and desserts. It was all delicious and nice. We had wonderful conversation, delicious sandwiches, delectable petit fours, and we all got to see something bizarre. I think this sort of thing happens only in New York. 







Where we went: http://www.russiantearoomnyc.com/