A literary afternoon tea at Café Royal

Hotel Café Royal1 has a new afternoon tea built around the writers who once passed through its rooms. Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and John le Carré anchor the menu, with head pastry chef Maxence Blondelle translating their books and personas into cakes and savouries served in the historic Café Royal Grill2. It is a tidy idea for a hotel so closely tied to London literary life, and one that makes the setting part of the appeal.

The sweet course does most of the storytelling. Mrs Dalloway becomes a floral confection of vanilla sablé, vanilla-hazelnut mousse, orange marmalade and praline, while Dorian Gray appears as Dorian’s Gilded Mirror, a plum-and-honey creation under a gold chocolate shell. The Secret Letter, inspired by Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, combines Earl Grey tea mousse, Pink Lady apple compote, cheesecake sablé and streusel. There are also Bloomsbury Scones with strawberry preserve and seasonal fig jam, plus tea pairings from Jing: Darjeeling Empyrean with the savouries, Jin Xuan Milk Oolong with the pâtisserie.

Sandwiches widen the cast, from coronation chicken for Rudyard Kipling to smoked salmon on rye for WB Yeats, egg mayonnaise for George Bernard Shaw and a cucumber sandwich with elderflower-pickled shallots for Wilde. The last flourish is The Final Chapter, three edible books made to share. There is also a partnership with Hatchards3, with editions of the featured works available to browse and buy. One for readers as much as tea drinkers; worth checking the book selection if that is part of the draw.

Our summary of a story from Supper, published 2 October 2026. Read the original