The Café des Beaux-Arts will open from Friday, November 27, 2009 (the Friday after Thanksgiving) through Saturday, April 3, 2010. A fixed-menu, fixed-price Gilded Age style lunch is served
11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 12:00 p.m.
to 3:00 p.m. on Sunday in the Museum's Flagler Kenan Pavilion. The price
for admission and tea is $18.00 for Members,
$36.00 for non-members. The menu consists of a variety of tea sandwiches, scones, and desserts prepared
fresh daily. Advance purchase is recommended and may be arranged
by calling
the Museum at (561) 655-2833. Groups are advised to call
the Museum at (561) 655-2833, extension 27, to arrange advance purchase
for groups. Special group rates may apply. To view the Café menu click here.
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF TEA
Gilded Age Americans saw
themselves as the most highly evolved western culture
in history. Because of this mindset, they felt free to
borrow traditions and rituals from previous great western
civilizations including ancient Rome and Greece, Italy,
and the nation’s
former ruling power, Britain. One of the most cherished
and ritualistic traditions observed by Americans during
the Gilded Age came from
Britain – the practice of afternoon tea.
 While the drinking of tea dates
back to ancient China, the practice of taking a formal
afternoon tea dates back to the early nineteenth century.
In 1840s England, Anna, the Seventh Duchess of Bedford,
began inviting friends for tea and cakes in the late
afternoon. As dinner was not customarily served until
8:00 p.m., the interim light meal provided a respite
from the "sinking feeling" many upper-class
women felt during the long wait between lunch and dinner.
The tradition of the tea gradually developed, reaching
its height of popularity during the Gilded Age.
The fashion of serving afternoon tea evolved into a complex ritual of formality and etiquette. The event could be a simple "Low Tea" of scones, sandwiches ("savories"), sweets and desserts – commonly known as "Full Tea" – or the affair could be very elaborate with meats, cheeses, butter, bread, sandwiches, scones, and desserts known as "High Tea." The equipage of tea also evolved to suit the formality of the event. Kettle drums, mote spoons, tea strainers, bone china cups and cozies all added to the enchantment of the ritual.
The etiquette of the afternoon tea was part of the refined American’s indoctrination into Society. Edith Wharton frequently mentioned the practice of having tea in her many literary works set during America's Gilded Age. Both the 1884 book, Manners and Social
Usages and an 1898 book, The Well-Bred Girl in Society
instructed young women in the art of serving a fine tea.
Everything from baking the proper pastries, to setting
the service, to boiling the water ("just enough so the oxygen does
not leave the water") was covered in these primers. Tea was always served loose,
necessitating the use of mote spoons and tea strainers.
However, when in 1908 New York vendor Thomas Sullivan
sent samples of his tea to customers in silk bags, the
tea bag was "invented". The
commercial production of tea bags in gauze began in the
1920s, and by 1935 the familiar string-and-bag format
with the logo of the tea maker was an American staple.
American renditions of the popular drink were also invented
during the Gilded Age,
including the first iced tea which was served in 1904
on a hot summer day at the World’s Fair in St.
Louis.
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