Tea at the Four Seasons

If you've been reading this blog long enough, you'll know that my all time favourite pastime is to have afternoon tea. And no, it is not something reserved for the Emily Gilmores' of the world (although I've seen plenty of them too). It is a fabulous opportunity for one to just sit, eat and chat with friends for hours on end with a constant refill of tea in a nice environment. Everytime I go to a different country, I try to find the perfect place for tea. My favourite in Hong Kong is the Mandarin Oriental (but its under renovations right now) and the Peninsula. In San Francisco, its the Ritz Carlton hands down. But in Chicago. . . I am still trying.

Although I think I've found the one that might be "it": The Four Season's Chicago. Conveniently located above Bloomingdales on Michigan Avenue, the setting is traditional quaint victorian style- just the way I like it!

They have pretty good scones too- I had 4 (I am scone deprived)! You can really tell a place by its scones. The Ritz Carlton in Chicago for example had a great atmosphere but terrible scones (although I might be because we were late for tea, but who stops serving tea after 4 anyway?).

Plus, they have this really cute teapot. When it first arrives, you are supposed to let it sit like this- upside down- for a while before tilting it back upright again.

This is because, inside the tea is seperated from the water by a little tray thing as seen above. How cool is that?

Although the scones there are still no competition to the ones at Ritz Carlton SF (or am I just putting them on a pedestal because I haven't had them in so long?). So I'm going to keep trying. Maybe the Drake? But I heard it was very Americanized tea and is not actually very good at all. . .