Ages and ages and ages (read: 6 weeks) ago, one of my best friends in this glorious world, Loreen, turned the ripe young age of 30. She was off on the Inca trail on this momentus day, proving her youth by trekking this hideously high altituded (oh yes, that is now a word) pathway sans any assistance from walking tools or her husband or most impressively, make-up. I know.

Since we weren’t able to properly celebrate Loreen’s birthday with her on the actual day, we kinda sorta tried to bend the time and space continuum and time warped back to the 1920’s to celebrate in style, albeit six weeks late.

Yes, I’m also confused.

Another one of my little buddies Christine (“little” is not a figurative term of endearment, we are just a regular bunch of midgets here) organised this unique and crazy party through Vintage Patisserie, an up and coming and utterly fabulous party business who turn various London venues into a thing of glamour and history, bringing the 1920’s to life with stunning maids, vintage crockery and most importantly, delicious tea party food.

I can’t begin to explain how inexplicably vintagely-cool Vintage Patisserie are. We rock up at the venue and it’s all set to go with personalised cupcakes and chocolates helping us declare our undying love for Loreen, because we’re there cos we love her right? Not because we want to eat, right? Right.

The tables were set with vintage crockery, beautifully laid out with roses and candles and all things that make you feel so disgustingly girlie that you almost want to run and hide but ah, what’s this they’re offering? A completely new concept indeed…

… tea with champagne! At. The. Same. Time. A deliciously refreshing combination of jasmine infused ice green tea, topped up with a little (or a lot of) prosecco….

Fizz away, m’lovely!

One awesome thing about Vintage Patisserie is that they’re not all about the eating. I know, I know, life is all about the eating. But sometimes, just sometimes, we have to pretend that it isn’t, ok?

The party comes complete with Sharon, Vintage Patisserie’s personal stylist extraordinaire, who will help you get in the 1920’s swing of things. She curls like there’s no tomorrow and when she’s done curling, she unleashes you on their treasure trove of dress-up goodies like pearls, feathers, head bands, gloves, fascinators and if you so happen to have boys at the party, they even have some top hats.

As you can imagine, we totally went cra-ZEE.

Gorgeously vintage and ready to eat!

Vintage Patisserie gives any other hotel style afternoon tea a run for their money. On the menu are fresh (and superbly moist) chocolate cupcakes, little shot glass desserts (including raspberry and custard, chocolate mousse, tiramisu, lemon cheesecake)…

… chocolate coated strawberries…

… and of course, the obligatory sandwich and scones. I know it totally looks like I anorexia’d on you guys here and only ate a cucumber sandwich but trust me, that is a lie. The usual afternoon tea suspects were on the sandwich menu and I tried every single one of them.

For the sake of the blog, of course.

And then there are the scones. Absolutely dahling all dusted in pink, these babies are more than just a pretty face. Fresh and moist, they probably would have been great just on their own but who the heck eats scones on their own? Drowned in strawberry jam and clotted cream, the scones were a little slice of glutton heaven.

Whoever invented clotted cream? Hi, my name is Cat, I love you.

So we ate and we drank (tea. and maybe a little prosecco) and had a fabulously girlie afternoon. For Β£35 a head, this afternoon tea sure beats paying almost twice as much to sit in a stuffy hotel although ok, I admit there is some glamour in sitting in a stuffy hotel.

Vintage Patisserie is a party idea I would totally recommend so seriously, if you want to throw a party with a difference, contact Angel now and get it sorted STAT!

Oh and happy belated birthday Loreen! *muaks*

Note: our little party was held at private member’s barΒ 93 Feet East down by Brick Lane but Vintage Patisserie have a selection of venues they operate in around London and they’re also happy to set up at your home or office. And… shhhh… a little birdie told me they are in the process of securing their own venue in Soho so *squeee!*

23-Jul-2010 update: watch Angel score on Dragon’s Den!

18-Oct-2010 update: watch Angel on Dragon’s Den Where Are They Now?

37 Thoughts on “Vintage Patisserie: a champagne afternoon tea with a 1920’s twist (or curl, as it may be)

  1. OMG this looks amazing! Who ever came up with the concept is a genius! And the little cakes just look too adorable to eat (well almost)! Love love love!

  2. Francine on June 30, 2010 at 11:08 am said:

    Oh WOW Catty!! This looks totally amazing. I love your dress up photos – I want a party like that, xx

  3. What a brilliant idea! You guys have such great choice *sigh* And tea champagne is just too brilliant!

  4. Loreen on June 30, 2010 at 12:18 pm said:

    Ahhh… I did cheat and use a walking stick… but I think the no make-up thing was the real achievement.

    Fab afternoon… but why are there no photos of you??

  5. omg, this looks like such fun! Can’t wait till their place in Soho opens! (I already pity my poor husband…)

  6. Maria: the little cakes are the best, especially the ones with Loreen’s face on it so we had to break her face to eat the cupcake! Hah, we’re morbid like that πŸ˜‰

    Francine: It’s a great party idea. Are you in London? If you are, I totally recommend!

    Lorraine: Surely there are up and coming businesses in Sydney that do this… if not… you should start one! πŸ˜‰

    Loreen: Oh shhh, don’t tell anyone you used a walking stick. And there are no photos of me because I wasn’t so suitably vintaged like you guys πŸ™‚

    Su-Lin: Haha, not sure if he’d like a curl in his hair but a top hat would suit nicely πŸ˜€

  7. a fantastic girlie party! I so love the theme! you all look like you had an awesome time!

  8. This looks like SO much fun!

  9. holly zankis on June 30, 2010 at 2:14 pm said:

    this is too cool.. how awesome to have such a great party that you dont have to set up or clean up ahha and i love the dress up boxes.. what fun!

  10. This is toooo cool i totally wanna hve such a girly retro party too!

  11. Pingback: Tweets that mention Vintage Patisserie: a champagne afternoon tea with a 1920β€²s twist (or curl, as it may be) Β« thecattylife – up close and personal to all things… edible -- Topsy.com

  12. what a beautiful party … you girls are most fun.

  13. Meeta: Yeah it was a great theme and the costumes provided were awesome because we didn’t have to walk around the street looking like weirdos haha πŸ™‚

    Su-yin: sure was.. sounds like you and diva need organise a party soon, you guys would look AMAZING!

    holly zankis: Oh yes, my favourite types of parties where I don’t need to set up or clean up, I just show up and eat! πŸ˜€

    Ken: Hehe you should throw one yourself! πŸ˜‰

  14. jane g. on June 30, 2010 at 4:16 pm said:

    fantastic girls day out! I went to a 1920’s party recently and it was all dappers and flappers hahaha, it’s such a great theme because it’s not too hard! the food looks great too, i adore strawberries and choc!

  15. Great review… Sounds so nice! I was wondering if you could recommend a japanese restaurant around the oxford st/regent st/ soho area? Thanks!

    • Thank you, yeah it was a really fun day! So Japanese around Oxford St/Regent St/Soho.. it depends what you’re after really! If you’re after cheap and cheerful, a few people like Tententei on Brewer Street and I like Tokyo Diner in Chinatown but that’s more for the donburi than sushi… and oh Sakura which is off Regent St, the service is horrendous but food’s nice!

      Otherwise there’s Kikuchi (I’m going this Friday night!) which is closer to Tottenham Court Road, but that’s a little pricier… or if you wander a little north of Soho, there’s Soho Japan on Wells St, that one I really like πŸ™‚

      Let me know if you need more help! x

  16. That is the coolest thing in the entire universe and y’all look so PRETTY! Why isn’t there a pic of you?

  17. Pingback: Tweets that mention Vintage Patisserie: a champagne afternoon tea with a 1920β€²s twist (or curl, as it may be) Β« thecattylife – up close and personal to all things… edible -- Topsy.com

  18. This looks fantastic and what a great send off for your friend. I adore the personalised cupcakes and the makeovers – you all look like you had a fabulous time!

  19. That’s great! Thanks so much! Looking more for sushi… So sakura or kikuchu then… I’m trying to educate my english friends as to what sushi really tastes like, and that it can be soooo much better than the M&S variety! Haha…

  20. Omg, that is like the most AWESOME idea ever!! Love it. Seeing as we don’t have Vintage Patisserie here in Oz I’ll have to organise my own tea-and-champagned filled shindig!

    xox Sarah

  21. OMG! This is super pretty and yes very girly. Love the idea and the table is perfect!

  22. That’s pretty awesome (aside from the abundance of cupcakes….;) )

  23. Sarah: Ah, I’ve now seen your blog about your own tea-and-champagne party and it looked AWESOME! You should start that as an Oz business πŸ˜‰

    penny: I know, bordering on WAY TOO GIRLY but somehow still really great fun!

    Lizzie: hehehe yeah, but there is also prosecco! πŸ˜€

  24. You know what, I *just* saw Angela make her pitch to the Dragon’s Den -she’s fabulous (and got the money)!

  25. Hi Catty,

    Did you see them on the Dragons Den last night? They came across very well

    JOe

  26. Jorge, Joe: YES! I saw – but you guys gotta stay tuned.. when they do the “where is she now/what has she done with the money” episode, they have footage from our party!! πŸ˜€

  27. That’s A-w-e-s-o-m-e! πŸ˜€ Do you know the aprox. date?!

  28. Catty, def very cool let us know the dates.

  29. Jorge, joe: I don’t know when it’s gonna air but if I find out I’ll blog/tweet it, don’t worry!! πŸ˜€

  30. Loreen on July 24, 2010 at 1:14 pm said:

    Dude – just linked this post to their facebook page. Thought it might be good PR for both of youse…

  31. I very much enjoyed your blog. Really good posts! Please keep posting such good cotent.

  32. Pingback: Vintage Patisserie | Tea Time in Wonderland

  33. Please come to the southwest – Bath area. The idea looks fab. Very best of luck with your venture.

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