Watch my Grand America Afternoon Tea video on YouTube
If I only even just sat at the table to stare at the afternoon tea offerings, I would have been perfectly happy.
In July 2024, we stayed at The Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary. To cap off a relaxing, indulgent weekend, we made reservations for afternoon tea at noon.
Tea was held at the Lobby Lounge, a beautifully appointed dining area which is the first thing you see upon entering the hotel. We were one of the first ones seated. Soon, other tables filled with groups of mostly women and girls, many of whom wore dresses. Some completed their outfit with fancy hats. For our part, I wore a longish chiffon dress while Drew wore a gray polo shirt and a pale peach tie.
Our male server went out of his way to make our experience wonderful. He offered to take our photos, explained what we had in our three-tier tray and repeated his whole spiel so I could video him (and thus know what we were served).
He also brought out a special lemon tart with Happy Anniversary spelled out in chocolate.
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“How long have you been married?” our server asked Drew and me.
“Thirty-two years,” I answered.
His mouth rounded in an O. “Well, he said, marriage isn’t easy. It’s so tempting to say, ‘I don’t like you, let’s get divorced.’ Keep fighting for it.”
I thanked him, then asked how long he’s been married.
“It would have been 42 years this year,” he said. His eyes filled with tears.
A week after his mother passed away, his wife died in a car accident. That was nearly 20 years ago.
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I took only a bite of each item, to make sure I had room for everything, and even then, I got stuffed pretty quickly. My favorites were the salmon and cucumber sandwiches. The macarons were a perfect delicate bite. The scones (which I pronounced scons like the British, reportedly, but which Drew rolled his eyes over) were amazing with the Devonshire cream, raspberry jam, and lemon curd. The whole presentation was so pretty.
For drinks, we had their hot chocolate—Drew chose raspberry and I chose coconut almond.
“How many other teas have you signed us up for the next three months?” Drew asked me as our meal wound down.
“Two,” I said, “one in the pump room in Bath and the other at Fortnum & Mason in London.” My super sweet husband who patiently tolerates a lot of my shenanigans, simply smiled.
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Afternoon Tea menu
Hot chocolate (Coconut almond for me, Raspberry for my husband)
Top tier:
Smoked salmon, dill aioli and shrimp on marbled rye bread
Ham and white cheddar Lightly grilled Pumpernickel bread
Organic brown egg salad sandwich with yellow mustard and paprika
Thin sliced cucumber and dill aioli with mild horseradish sauce
Middle tier:
Cherry almond cake
Raspberry macaron
Apple cinnamon with pear cream sauce
Bottom tier:
Butter cookie with fresh raspberry jam
Citrus madeleine with zest of lemon
House-made scones
Fresh jam, lemon curd and Devonshire cream
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Reminder: You can watch my Grand America Afternoon Tea video on YouTube.
Thank you for reading. Check out my novels and my quick guides to writing and publishing fast for profit. I also write travel books.
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