GAME ON Afternoon Tea at NOTCH8

Notch8 at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver has done it again! With the new season, comes a new theme. Notch8 has decided to combine our love for classic board games with delicious cocktails and finger foods and transformed the Private Dining Room into a Games Room! From Wednesdays to Sundays, you'll be able to put your pinkies up with game inspired Afternoon Tea along with going head to head with your friends on your favourite games.

Aside from their popular Afternoon Tea, starting this Friday at 7pm, and every Friday until November 17th, they will awesome be offering "Tipsy Tea", which offers its guests fun cocktails, delicious bites, and an evening of competition, whether it be a game of Snakes & Ladders, or a competitive game of Monopoly!

Miss Scarlet : Tangueray Ten Gin, Rosebud Tea Simple Syrup, Lemon Juice, Raspberry Jam, Egg White

Here's everything that's offered on the GAME ON Afternoon Tea Set, from the creative tier acquired from the UK, to the creative finger foods created by Chef Will, to the fun & games-inspired names, this set comes together beautifully. Amongst one of my favourites is the Chess-nut Tart and the Go Fish Niscoise Sandwich.

GAME ON Afternoon Tea: Go Fish - Niscoise Sandwich, King Me - Double Stacked Blini, Game of L.I.F.E. Sandwich, Chess-nut Tart, Double Domino Lemon Tart, Red Velvet XO Macaron, Raspberry Heart Shortbread Card, Valrhona Top Hat Chocolate Mousse, Checkmate Battenberg Cake, Chocolate Checkers Coin

King Me - Double Stacked Blini | Smoked Salmon, Caviar, Herb Cream Cheese, Baby Dill

Go Fish - Niscoise Sandwich | Ahi Tuna, Shrimp, Olives, Green Beans, Poached Eggs, Baby Potatoes, Anchovy Olive Tapenade

Game On Afternoon Tea runs from September 20th – November 26th, 2017, Wednesdays
– Sundays at 11AM, 1PM & 3PM. Adults $59, Children $29.5 (ages 12 & under).

Game Night Tipsy Tea runs Friday evenings from October 6th – November 17th, 2017, at 7PM. $75 per person. Guests must be 19+ years of age.

I hope to see you there!

Words & Photos: Jenn Chan

Afternoon Tea Series: Bacchus at Wedgewood Hotel

The Brut from Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars is a wonderful sparkling white with a dry, citrusy finish. We had been sitting no longer than a few minutes when Mr. Kyle Johnstone, the energetic Bacchus manager, brought us a couple of glasses of Blue Mountain's finest. Sitting in opulence, dark wood panelled grandeur, we sip our sparkling wine and watch our fellow patrons laugh and enjoy their meals. To say the atmosphere is upscale, the drink program amazing and the food way above average wouldn't be putting it firmly enough!

Blue Mountain Sparkling Wine

We are at Bacchus to preview their afternoon tea ahead of Mother's Day and decided on the Thunderbolt Darjeeling and Lavender Earl Grey. Mr. Johnstone has been covertly trying every afternoon tea around town to get inspiration for Bacchus' offerings and it shows! The presentation is top notch, the food hearty and plentiful and the tea is magnificent! I found the Thunderbolt Darjeeling more fruity than floral and it's packed with caffeine. There's a bit of a dryness, happily, to it that I found very satisfying and I thoroughly recommend it. For a period of about a decade I would not dry my clothes without a lavender scented dryer sheet. Ditto dish soap requiring a lavender hue. Shampoo, air freshener, body lotion... you get the idea. Having bucked the compulsive trend I still find myself partial to the sweet, soothing smell. The Lavender Earl Grey is as good as it sounds; the perfection that is Earl Grey augmented with the delicious, curative lavender. Worth a trip all on its own!

Bacchus Afternoon Tea Menu

Thunderbolt Darjeeling & Lavender Earl Grey

Three tiers of deliciousness are then placed in front of us.  Egg salad sandwiches, smoked salmon and cream cheese spirals, tandoori chicken sandwiches, shrimp salad sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches make up the bottom tier. I have had some bad experiences with egg salad. Think of the apprehension you have of tequila the next time you partake after it has done you wrong... this is the hesitation with which I took my first bite, but it was the best I have ever had and quickly disappeared. Smoked salmon is incredible, I think that's universally recognized? Cheese is amongst the best things on Earth and when you combine the two, as one should, the result is a perfect 10/10 sandwich; delicious! Tandoori chicken runs a close second to butter chicken in the hierarchy of Indian food according to Scotty and this sandwich doesn't disappoint. The shrimp salad sandwich was excellent and you can tell the shrimp was very fresh and supple. While I am a self proclaimed carnivore I have to admit that I found the cucumber sandwich very delicious. A cool, crisp and refreshing offering!

Afternoon Tea Set

Tier 1: Cucumber, Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese, Prawn, Egg Salad, Tandoori Chicken

Egg Salad Sandwich & Prawn Sandwich

Cucumber Sandwiches

Tier two boasts a lovely English Fruit Cake, Almond Tart, Lemon Chiffon Cake and Fruit Tart. Fruit cake isn't to be feared. This isn't your aunt realizing her fruit bowl is going bad and using up everything in a "fruit cake" and freezing it to give as Christmas gifts 5 months later. This is fresh, fluffy and sweet fruit cake and I would have eaten a pound of it. Almonds are filled with protein. 21 grams of the stuff per 100 grams onto be exact. Ahhhhhhh so this is how vegans don't waste away to skeletons. I love them and this tart made me want to eat a garbage bag full! The chiffon cake was the perfect sweetness of lemon, not too tart and not diabetes inducing and the fruit tart was delicious and packed with vitamins. Who said dessert wasn't healthy?

Tier 2: Mini Bakewell Tart, Seasonal Fruit Tartlet, English Fruit Cake, Lemon Chiffon with White Chocolate Ganache

Tier three, the top tier, is where the Atkins diet goes to die. Carbs, with carbs and some sugar. Scones, eclairs and macarons  with a heavenly Devonshire cream and fruit preserves. I have often waxed poetically about Devonshire cream and Bacchus does it as well if not better than most and it really complimented the fresh scones. Eclairs are luxury donuts, long johns packed with surprises. In this instance a rich cream that was so incredibly thick and fresh, delicious! The macarons were expertly done and the flavours, as is sometimes not the case, were well balanced. I mean at some places you'll see 'rose petal, watermelon, pineapple, crab apple, road apple, lemon, chocolate macarons'? Just stop.

Tier 3: Chocolate Éclair, Freshly Baked Scone, Devonshire Cream & Fruit Preserves, Macaron

The Wedgewood Hotel is a luxury boutique hotel just off Robson and Burrard in the heart of Downtown Vancouver and across the street from the Supreme Court of BC and the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Bacchus Restaurant, as Wedgewood's prestigious lobby bar, is frequented by lawyers, doctors from the nearby hospital, businessmen, professionals and celebrities. It is an excellent place to people watch, eat and drink or just sidle up to bar and watch the game. I would very highly recommend checking it out and maybe make a night of it, book a room upstairs and go wondering the paradise that is Vancouver!

Words: Scott Allan
Photos: Jenn Chan

Afternoon Tea Series: TWG Tea Canada

Have you ever noticed that some days you learn a couple new things and some days you learn nothing? Since TWG Vancouver, which, it turns out, stands for The Wellbeing Group (learning) made its debut in Vancouver in 2016 their offerings seem to be constantly improving. The service has evolved in lockstep with our host Brady and server Donnie making us feel stupendously welcome! We started our visit with the Tea Party Tea, a delightful black tea with sweet undertones, and the White Spring Yin Zhen Silver Needles. The White Spring is renowned for its health benefits and is easily added to ones health regime because it is really delicious.

TWG Tea Canada Tea List

Tea Party Tea - Perfect for Easter!

The West Coast Tea Set is a uniquely Vancouver, three-tiered teatime experience crafted by the very talented Chef Cliff Hohl. Japanese Miso Sablefish, Follow Me Tea Albacore and Steelhead Hawaiian poke with uni, Sencha infused Spicy Scallop Tempura Roll and Wagyu Beef and Burgundy Truffle with Hidden-Pu-Erh infused Vietnamese Pho. Yes Pho, properly pronounced fuh (think duh with an 'f'), in a tea set; amazing! Chef Cliff makes my favourite Sablefish. To say it's delicious cheapens the meaning of the word. It is incendiary. Having visited Hawaii for the first time in 2016 I came home with what some may dub an "unhealthy poke lust". I would dub it love and the poke done at TWG in a way that would make my Oahu brethren proud! The Spicy Scallop Tempura Roll is very good and the Pho, with its incredible Wagyu beefy goodness, wouldn't feel out of place in Saigon. In all an incredible and satisfying meal, but we were fortunate enough to indulge in another tea set right after we devoured this one.

TWG Tea Canada West Coast Tea Set Menu

West Coast Tea Set

Tier One - Sencha Infused Spicy Scallop Tempura Roll & Wagyu Beef and Burgundy Truffle with Hidden Pu-Erh infused Vietnamese Pho

Tier Two - Japanese Miso Maple Sablefish & Follow Me Tea Infused Albacore and Steelhead Hawaiian Poke with Uni

Tier Three - Lemon Bush Tea Infused Mousse Tart, Napoleon Tea Infused Jivara Petit Four, 1837 Black Tea Infused Pâte De Fruit, TWG Tea Macaron

The Chic Tea Set, unlike the temporarily available West Coast tea set, is a bonafide, tried and tested TWG menu staple. It features: Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Cream with Nori and Genmaicha Furikake, Mimosa Egg Sandwich with Aioli and Mirror Quail Eggs, Smoky Russian Tea Infused Tomato Bread with Pesto Chicken and Stracciatella Cheese. We had our arms twisted and added the Finger Sandwiches plate so we could enjoy two additional sandwiches not included in the Chic Tea Set, the Foie Gras Medallion and Atlantic Lobster Salad.

Smoke anything, salmon, beef, leather or bicycle, and I'll eat it. I will. The smoked salmon sandwich has a really nice popcorn-y flavour to it and I could have eaten 50 even after the West Coast Tea Set! The Mimosa Egg Sandwich's yoke pops as soon as you put it in your mouth and the flavour is fabulous. The pesto chicken sandwich is literally the best chicken sandwich I've ever had! Somewhere between the unique cheese and tomato bread a new level in chicken sandwichery is reached. Lobster is the most expensive crustacean on Earth and it isn't because they're beautiful. It isn't because they're hard to catch. It is because they taste like a sunny walk through a dewy meadow on your birthday. The lobster salad sandwich tastes like that walk times 10; it is incredible! The foie gras offering is equally delicious with a tangy mustard kick.

TWG Tea Canada Tea Time Menu

Chic Tea Set

Smoked Salmon and Horserash Cream with Nori and Genmaicha Furikake, Mimosa Egg Sandwich with Aioli and Mirror Quail Eggs, Smoky Russian Tea Infused Tomato Bread with Pesto Chicken and Stracciatella Cheese

2 Freshly Baked Scones Served with TWG Tea Jelly & Whipped Cream

Finger Sandwiches - Smoked Salmon and Horserashish Cream with Nori and Genmaicha Furikake, Mimosa Egg Sandwich with Aioli and Mirror Quail Eggs, Smoky Russian Tea Infused Tomato Bread with Pesto Chicken and Stracciatella Cheese, Foie Gras Medallion with Homemade Summer Palace Tea Infused Cherry Jam, Atlantic Lobster Salad bound with Geisha Blossom Tea Infused Créme Fraîche, Meyer Lemon and Norther Divine Caviar

The TWG desserts are worth the trip alone: Lemon Bush Tea infused Mousse Tart, Napoleon Tea Infused Jivara Petit Four, 1837 Tea Infused Pâté de Fruit and TWG Macaron. The Pâté de Fruit is amongst the tastiest things I've ever masticated. I have a sweet tooth, all my teeth really, and this soothed the lot. The lemon tart harkened back to my sweet Granny's homemade lemon meringue pies and I like things that make me think of the dearly departed Francis Allan so I liked this tart. Like a lot. The TWG macarons wouldn't be easily discernible sitting beside their $100 a pop, bejewelled Parisienne cousins and the Jivara Petit Four would satisfy any chocolate hounds cravings.

TWG Tea Pâtisserie in TWG Trolley

TWG is the best tea house in Vancouver. Full stop. It is wondrously beautiful inside and it, like the world's best athletes, the world's best anything really, strives to improve itself everyday. Chef Cliff Hohl is passionate about his craft and is also very, very good at it. Their upcoming Easter Tea Set will no doubt inspire me to wax poetically and I look forward to trying it. As you should.

TWG Tea Selection

TWG Tea Macaron

Afternoon Tea Series: The Secret Garden Tea Company

"Take a bite and then write" were Jenn's words of welcome as I sauntered into the lovely Secret Garden nearly an hour late. A cold bead of sweat trickled down my forehead as I took in the ambience and started to acclimate to the tony surroundings. Elegant white, wood paneling adorn the walls and Persian rugs bigger than I've ever seen half cover light hardwood floors. Half tea shoppe and half tea room the Secret Garden Tea Company puts off a distinct Alice in Wonderland vibe and everyone is grinning ear to ear!

I elected to go with a pot of apricot/ peach tea, to satisfy my sweet tooth, and was very glad I did! Delicious, aromatic and not too sweet. One of the best teas I've ever tried! As I sipped a 3-tiered tower of deliciousness was placed in front of me. Now I have developed a pretty bad habit over the last few years: croissant addiction. A severe, sometimes crippling addiction to France's second best export which only trails the French invention of democracy by a hair. I don't know what it is. I can't explain it, but when I see croissants I eat them. Without shame. The Tarragon Scented Asparagus Sandwiches on Petit Croissants were a revelation and I don't generally like asparagus. Or tarragon for that matter. But put them on a croissant and I could have eaten 20!

High Tea Menu

3-tiered High Tea

The Secret Garden Egg Pinwheels were a close runner up, akin to democracy trailing only croissants, and were incredibly fresh. If you've gathered that I have no aversion to carbohydrates and their prime delivery agents, pastries, you couldn't be more right. Enter the

Muffaletta with Genoa Salami, Ham, and Olive Relish on Housemade Cornmeal Biscuits. I have only been to Italy for a few hours, a quick jaunt into Trieste during a road trip of the Balkans, but if I get into Genoa I'm putting them on notice right now that they're going to need to make extra salami! This sandwich is a peppery adventure sweetened just enough by the cornmeal; excellent!

Secret Garden Egg Pinwheels, Tarragon Scented Asparagus Sandwiches on Petit Croissants, & Muffaletta with Genoa Salami, Ham, and Olive Relish on Housemade Cornmeal Biscuits

Scones are good. You might have guessed already that it'd be likely I'd enjoy them. Add some Raspberry Jam and Devonshire Cream and I enjoyed them more than I should have. A perfect 10/10 pastry! The Tea Cake Slices were a nice blend of sweet and tart, but the Tangy Mini Lemon Curd Tart was all sweet in a very good way. Bittersweet Chocolate Silk Mousse Cake speaks for itself. I remember sneaking my mom's baking chocolate out of the cupboard thinking I've stumbled upon a mother load only to find them half edible, but when you add the sweetness of the mousse to the mix thus dessert is a home run! When tourists come to Canada they almost inevitable leave with maple syrup. Why? We'll fit one its awesome. For two we have the leaf from that particular tree displayed prominently on our flag and, we'll, everywhere else! The Quebec Maple Fudge with Vanilla Chantilly scream Canada, whiskers the Anglican/ Francophone brotherhood and is just plain delicious.

Scone with Raspberry Jam and Devonshire Cream & Tea Cake Slices

Tangy Mini Lemon Curd Tart, Bittersweet Chocolate Silk Mousse Cake, & Quebec Maple Fudge with Vanilla Chantilly

When you combine the bright, airy surroundings, incredibly congenial service, amazing tea and excellent food it isn't hard to see why the Secret Garden requires a reservation! Call today and tell them the folks at Jenn Chan Media sent you and take our word for it you'll be glad you did!

Afternoon Tea with Mom

Cutest Bow on the Maple Fudge

Individual Tea Set

High Tea for 1

The Urban Tea Merchant - Sakura Tea Set

The Urban Tea Merchant Sakura Tea Set

The decision by The Urban Tea Merchant (TUTM) to extend their very popular Sakura Tea Set until the end of May is the best thing to happen to you today whether you know it or not! 

Wall of Teas

2016 Darjeeling Nouveau

Chef Cliff Hohl has an innate flair for Japanese fusion and the "tea gastronomy" dishes in the Sakura Tea Set hit the mark. The term, Tea gastronomy, which I believe they coined themselves, is the practice of using tea, in some way, in all of their dishes. Chef Hohl was gracious enough to take the time to lay out our platter personally and explain each different morsel in mouth watering detail.

Gold Yin Zhen tea, sprinkled with 24K gold flakes

Gold Yin Zhen tea

Three different teas accompanied out meal and started with a 2016 Darjeeling Nouveau which had been picked from the Darjeeling region of India only 3 weeks earlier. The Darjeeling is the champagne of teas and it doesn't take more than a sip to know why! We then partook in their very popular Bain de Roses tea, which literally translated means Rose Bath, but was much more subtle, followed by my personal favourite, the limited edition, Sakura! Sakura! Tea. TWG Tea is the only tea the TUTM serves and it is world renowned for a reason. There may or may not be some exciting news about the TWG and TUTM partnership coming up, but it isn't my news to break :)

2016 Darjeeling Nouveau, Bain De Roses Tea, Sakura Tea

Sakura Tea Set

We were advised to start with the Wagyu Beef, which was perched just centimetres above a piping hot bowl of soup that was to be its final destination, as it was to be cooked in the Japanese Shabu Shabu hotspot style. Do some quick research on Wagyu Beef and you will see why it was such a tender piece of meat and very flavourful.
 

"Houjicha" Beef Wagyu, Shabu Shabu

Wagyu Beef Cooking in Tea-infused Soup

We then moved on to the Seared Scallops in Wild Boar Jam. The scallops were soaked in Sakura! Sakura! Tea and the earthy, floral flavour shined through and was a wonderful compliment to the Wild Boar Jam. The Kumamoto Oyster was next and it was delightful with a sweet Passionfruit Tea Jelly. 
 

Sakura! Sakura! Tea "Stained Seared Scallop, Wild Boar Jam, Yuzu Gel

Kumamoto Oyster with Togarashi "Passion Fruit Tea" Jelly

The main course is a Miso Maple Sablefish. Being well travelled foodies and prolific food / lifestyle bloggers, my partner and I tried to think of the amount of times in the past few months we'd had Miso Sablefish; it was 4! Our fifth Sablefish was our favourite, by far, hands down! Chef Hohl's Sablefish secrets, I'm told, will die with him, but the fish was cooked to perfection and its light, buttery flavour was absolutely stunning and we will be back time and time again for it alone and we haven't even gotten to the desserts yet!

Miso Maple Sablefish, with Watermelon Radish & Deep Fried Lotus Leaf, on Shiso Leaf

The dessert included a Bain de Roses Macaron, a tea-infused Ricotta Cheesecake, a Chocolate Dipped Strawberry and a lovely array of Fresh Fruit. All were heavenly with the Ricotta Cheesecake being my favourite, but only by a nose.

 “Sakura! Sakura! Tea” Pavlova, TWG Tea Macaron, “Tokyo-Singapore Tea” Cheesecake, White and Dark Chocolate Dipped Strawberry & Mélange of Fresh Fruit

In all this tea set from The Urban Tea Merchant left us feeling full and satisfied, the service was exceptional, a perfect 10, and the atmosphere is lovely; it is a must do!

Words: Scott Allan
Photos: Jenn Chan