afternoon tea

we were invited to re-concept Afternoon Tea for Palm Court at The Langham. We chose to take it back to its roots in 1865 when it was the first hotel in the world to introduce the notion. Every aspect from chinaware through to bags, books, boxes, cakestands, room decoration, service, uniforms and with Michel Roux jr. and the delightful pastry chef, Andrew Gravett, who came up with some brilliant Acton/Beaton confections of the era – the food itself.

Our bespoke chinaware designs took months to complete and days were spent in the V&A examining the collection – from sugar bowl shapes to shallow ‘Adelaide’ teacups’

Using a daisy motif in a blend of greens taken from early 19th century fern illustrations – which chimed well with the original Langham monogram from the ironwork of its staircase, in combination with gold detailing, we created a new chinaware pattern for William Edwards bone china to manufacture.