The Palm Court High Tea at the Plaza Hotel

The New Yorker Tea

Our beloved friend Jeff was getting married in three weeks, and we asked him what he wanted to do with his party before getting hitched - he wanted to go to high tea at the Palm Cort in the Plaza Hotel! What could be more New York than doing that?

Jeff and I have a long history together - he's one of my oldest friends. Not old in terms of age per se, but old in terms of how long we have been friends! We've known eachother since we were in middle school. Now given that we are in our mid-30s, when you realize that middle school means we were around 13 years old, that's quite a long time ;). We went to different schools in neighboring towns but were part of an organization called Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth (CAPAY) that was headquartered at UMASS Boston. Jeff was one of the co-chairs (along with Sandy who you see above!) and I was on the steering committee as one of the members. We then remained friends until we both realized we were going to Brandeis together and also lived together in a 6 person suite our Junior year (well, Jeff's Senior year as he graduated early, that smarty pants) - then we both ended up living and working in New York City! And we went on many adventures together after that, whether it was the Cape, hardcore camping in Maine, or stuffing our faces with deliciousness.

Even though I knew logistically how difficult it would be dragging out a 3.5 year old and moving about with my nearly 7 month pregnant belly, there is nothing I wouldn't do for Jeff. He's always been there for me and I'd be damned if I didn't do the same for him, even given the hurdles. So off we went to NYC (I told you, I love traveling).

We took the train from our hotel to the Plaza, and realized we got there a half hour early, so we spent some time at Central Park just admiring the scenery. Once we got to the Plaza we saw all of our good friends - ones we haven't seen a while, but you know when you have good friends when you can strike up a conversation and pick up the pieces where you left off. That's how awesome it is. Kasen warmed up right away once someone asked about his Allosaurus. That's the way to his heart!

After perusing the menu, most of us ordered the New Yorker Tea ($70) while my husband got the Champagne Tea ($110) and gave Jeff the champagne. I would have gotten Kasen the Eloise Tea but there were so many items on there I knew he wouldn't eat and it would be a waste - so I just let him have items off mine and Ken's three-tiered tower. Kasen also got a delicious cold cold pink lemonade (which he loved and devoured, he loves drinks) and since I was staying away from caffeine I got the Tropical Garden tea as the accompaniment - it was excellent. In all, excellent ambiance though I found the service a little strange (the servers were a little kooky), but in all fine despite a mix up with the bill at the end. Kasen went to the restroom about 3X during the entire event! He actually loved trekking to the restroom. He was so well behaved that my friends could not believe it. And when Uncle Rob walked in, Kasen recognized him immediately and pretty much gave him daps! I love it when that happens!

Looking forward to the next high tea experience, after this one and one in Hong Kong that we had at the Langham Hotel.