Life is happening…welcome Amber!

I have not blogged for a while but with the near year, something new came into our life – a pooch. Since early January Amber has made us laugh and had made us loose sleep. Days have gone by without realising it, between vet visits, health scare, poop scooping and pipi training. 
So it’s nearly mid February and I find myself finally getting to the blog again with something that I really enjoyed last Sunday, with my friend Rosana of Hot & Chili.

Via Twitter, I came across a very interesting article by Hot Dinners on a famous NY bakery soon opening here in Waterloo. A link at the bottom of the page caught my eye. Surrealist afternoon tea at Sotheby’s.<
Surrealism has always been one of my favourite artistic currents and I have followed exhibitions of my absolute favourite artist across Europe.

Magritte’s posters have graced my walls for years and his masterpieces give me a sense of calm, solitude and relax like no other artist’s. 
It happened that Sotheby’s was auctioning a large number of surrealist pieces (oh, how I wish a had a million or two to spare!) and for the occasion, their cafe’ was hosting a themed afternoon tea. How could I miss it?

I asked Rosana to join me and so we went. On a Sunday afternoon, while the rest of Mayfair was quite sleepy in the wintry dusk, Sotheby’s was buzzing. People in and out of the exhibition itself and the cafe. I had booked a table and I am glad I had. The value of the Surrealist Tea was quite good, at £18 for the full set (£24 with an optional glass of champagne).

The tea pot and the food tray arrived quickly. In the past, gimmicky tea set up have proved too much appearance drive and lacking substance.The tea at Sotheby’s was actually really enjoyable. I found the ensemble creatively put together and with solid flavours too, not just appearance.
I felt like a kid in a sweetshop, picking up the Surrealist references in the cakes we had and showing Rosana my Magritte knowledge with the Ceci n’est pas une pipe painting. 

Savoury dishes included the classic cream cheese and cucumber finger sandwich which was just lovely and not soggy at all. Next, the scones with chili jam and whipped goat’s cheese (both these served in cute mini glass jars. The cheddar and pistachio biscuit came in the shape of a paintbrush and the accompanying beetroot cream, in a paint tube – we loved squeezing it out and decorate the biscuit. 

My favourite, Magritte, had center stage with a large cookie in the shape of a canvas, served on a tiny wooden easel, with ‘This is not a biscuit’ written on, and the shape of a custard cream above. Ace. I couldn’t even bring myself to eat it, and have jealously kept it for the years to come. Sort of. 

We enjoyed our girlie tea so much, we actually missed out on visiting the exhibition, open to the public prior to the sale. 

Just as well, or I might have been to tempted to sell my house for one of the items!