DarTEAling Lounge

Tea Time likes to make time to get around and revisit old favorites. Sometimes that's a challenge considering how many new restaurants open in SF every month, but we finally made time to get back to Dartealing Lounge. Our first visit was shortly after they had opened. Over time they've been getting settled in and more comfortable with their Restaurant Persona and when you walk in you see the delightful classy comfort they want to share with all their tea partakers.
DarTEAling continues the tearoom tradition of mis-matched china.

  

The menus can be seen online here, so double check before visiting to see if anything is seasonal or updated.

An assortment of utensils is on the table, 

so you don't have to look for a  server if you drop one

The outside is plain, but don't let that discourage you. The inside is charming.

 

 There are regular tables to sit at.

And there are cosy nooks for a more intimate experience.

 

And most important, the tea and the food.

J.K. usually orders tea without caffeine, but as we were going out that night, she was planning to stay awake for the entertainment anyway, so we ordered two caffeinated choices.

My Brown-Eyed Girl on the left,
Checkmate Mycroft! (with milk added) on the right

We ordered one Covent Garden Afternoon Tea and one Knightsbridge High Tea, so we could experience everything. It all came on one three-tier tray, so here are pictures from both sides. The tray is all one piece, so we couldn't remove each tier to take a picture from the top.

There is a small shop area with tea and china to take home.

After our tea, we went to Help Is On The Way XXIII. at the Herbst Theater. As usual, it was a great show. This year's beneficiaries were Meals on Wheels San Francisco and Positive Resource Center. If you missed the show and want to contribute to a good cause, you can still donate here.

Irish coffee, Ireland style

Yes, apparently you have to go to Ireland to get the real deal.  The difference is in the cream:  over there, they layer on thick cream that doesn't dissolve like the sprayed-from-a-can whipped cream with which it's served in the States.  Powers is the whisky of choice.

I had one at Tigh Ned's ("Tigh," pronounced like tea, appropriately enough for this blog; it basically means pub) on Inis Óirr (i.e, Inisheer), one of the Aran Islands, while waiting out some rain and the arrival of a pony trap for a tour of some of the island.  This came with sugar already in it, just not so much that the primary taste sensation was sweetness.  It was a good cup of coffee in which I could taste the whisky, and the thick cream made it smoother.

The next day, I had this one at the Roundstone Cafe in the village of Roundstone in Connemara.  The lady at the cafe served it without sugar so I could add to taste ... and the Demarara crystals were lovely.  Fortunately, I think us kids can try this at home!

We were on a short meal and leg-stretching break, and I chose to have an Irish coffee then nosh on a Clif Bar back on the bus.

It was just as good as the one at Tigh Ned's.  There's a new Irish restaurant in Oakland near Jack London Square, called Slainte, and I'll have to see if they make them like Mam used to, won't I?

BTW, one of our day trip guides mentioned the Irish sitcom "Father Ted," in the context of acceptable Irish alternatives to actual naughty words.  The opening helicopter shot sequence is up on YouTube, and the chopper flies over Inis Óirr.  The dead giveaway is the old shipwrecked tanker on the southern shore; the sea heaved it up in a winter storm in 1960 and there it's sat ever since.  Lovely little island.  It's in the Gaeltacht, but apparently people speak Irish at home and among their friends and English in public, so I didn't have a chance to look like an amateur.

Handmade by Huffkins

I met the folks from Huffkins at the Fancy Food Show, where they were introducing their excellent fruitcake to the United States. This is not your usual doorstop fruitcake. This is cake with fruit, in several different combinations: Apricot & Almond, Cherry & Pecan, Chocolate & Orange, Date & Walnut and Cranberry and Cointreau. My favorite, of course, is the Chocolate & Orange, but really, they're all delicious.

  

Excellent with a cup of tea

HAMO Fundraising Tea

Help A Mother Out is a wonderful organization that provides diapers to families in need. Diapers, which are so essential, are not provided by other agencies, governmental or private, that help the needy. In addition to other fundraising efforts, HAMO hosts a fundraising tea every year.

This year's tea was held at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in downtown San Francisco. We arrived at 10:00 to pick up our name tags, and were treated to bottomless mimosas, which continued to be poured during the tea, which began at 10:30. Afternoon tea makes an intriguing brunch.  Dan Kelly, Director of Planning of the San Francisco Human Services Agency, was presented with the Community Impact Award, and a video was shown, presenting three mothers whose lives were changed by the gift of diapers.

Seating was assigned, but the Eventbrite registration form asked who invited us, so Mel (remember Mel's Daily Cuppa?) and I, and our two guests, all sat together. The tables were set with a three-tier tea tray, with sandwiches, fruit and scones, so there were no growling stomachs waiting for the waiters to get to their table.

The program was emceed, as usual, by Kristen Sze of ABC News. She did something a little different this year: She held a live auction of a behind-the-scenes tour of her workplace, which raised $1,000 for HAMO.

Condiments were on the table. There were three sets of everything on the table, so no one had to resort to a "boardinghouse reach."

Close-up of the food

Close-up of the condiments

There was an assortment of teabags on the table. Waiters came around frequently to pour hot water.

And refill the mimosa pitchers when necessary.

The mimosas kept flowing throughout the tea

A generous assortment of desserts followed the savories. The whole service was generous. Despite the fact that our table included two men, there were a few sandwiches and desserts left over.

 

The format of this tea varies from year to year, but it is always elegant, and supports a good cause.

On my way to the bus after the tea, I was offered a t-shirt in return for having my picture taken with a pair of Beats by Dre headphones. They were draped around my neck, so they didn't have to be sanitized after each wearer, but it wasn't a very popular promotion. I checked their Facebook feed later and discovered that I appeared to be their only taker for the day.

#beatsbyDre

Moringa

After we visited the KuliKuli Foods booth at the Winter Fancy Food Show, they offered to send us some samples of their Moringa products to review.

The Moringa Tea is our favorite. Tasty, caffeine-free and good for you. What more can you ask for?

These teabags are exceptionally buoyant!

Pretty color, and doesn't need sweetener

The Dark Chocolate bar has 4 grams of protein, and the Black Cherry and Crunchy Almond have 5. The Black Cherry is our favorite.

The bars are vegan, too!

We were going to make a smoothie with the powder, but we prefer to chew our fruit, so we made a fruit salad and stirred the powder into our yoghurt for a tasty dressing.

The single serving packets are very handy.

Tea Time cannot resist making marshmallows from tea. These came out very white, so nobody would guess that they're slightly healthy as well as delicious. Just remember to coat everything you use (mixer bowl, whisk attachment, the foil lining the pan and all tools) with cooking spray or your marshmallow will be like Tar Baby!

There are lots of yummy-looking recipes on the Kuli-Kuli website, but we are also partial to madeleines, so we added a 30-gram packet of moringa powder to the flour for our orange flower water madeleines and we were not disappointed.

The batter was very green.

Nice big bumps, and crunchy edges, but the madeleines were very moist a perfect treat for anyone who loves green desserts (both for color and helath).

We were so happy with all our Moringa results that we're now scouring the farmer's markets for the raw Moringa  leaves. We'll let you know what we do with them.

UPDATE:

The nice folks at Kuli Kuli sent us a copy of their Moringa Inspired cook booklet, and we had a packet of Moringa Powder left, so J.K. made these tasty brownies.  There was a slight glitch--the recipe called for salt, but the directions said add the baking soda but didn't mention salt. So she kept the salt and added ½ teaspoon of baking soda.

You can order your own copy of the cookbook at KuliKuli.com, but there are lots of free recipes on the site so you don't need to invest in the cookbook to find out whether you like moringa powder in your food. The powder itself is not cheap, but if you're not a vegetable eater, this might be something you'll like.

The batter barely filled the specified 9" x 13" pan.

It didn't rise much, but then brownies are usually flat. However, we would use a smaller pan if we make these again.

Katia's Russian Tea Room

Second Sunday Tea at 3 met at Katia's Russian Tea Room for a very different afternoon tea. J.K. was worried about having to choose her savories from a totally tempting list, but fortunately that was taken care of in advance by the group's leader. Tea Time has enjoyed several outing with the SST@3 group and this time was a great experience as well.

The food was all delicious, and there was plenty of it. We started with bread and butter on the tables.

Russian Bread and Butter with a sprig of dill

The bread was quickly followed by Eggplant Caviar to spread on it.

Next we had Salmon Roe Blini.

Blini : delicate crepes, brushed lightly with sour cream
and filled with smoked salmon

The Blini were followed by Pel'meni.

Pel'meni : Tender, round, beef filled dumplings sauteed and 
served with a light curry sauce.

And of course there was tea, served in podstakanniki (silver glass holders). My Russian-born elders drank their Swee-Touch-Nee tea from glasses, without the holders. Herbal tea bags were available for those wanted a caffeine free beverage. Sugar, lemon and milk were ready to doctor up your drink as you desired. 

Our last savory was Potato Vareniki.

Potato vareniki : crescent shaped dumplings, filled with potatoes, 
steamed until they look like fat little pillows. Served with caramelized onions.

And then there was dessert! The first item was syrniki, fried cheese patties.

The Chocolate Walnut Meringue Torte was a big hit. Fresh fruit and mint were a lovely and tasty garnish on the dessert platters.

And of course Napoleons are always popular with any nationality. All the food was in perfect portions for family style sharing, and what our group didn't eat was available to be taken home! Our sweet waitress told us that Katia may consider retiring in the next year, so hurry up and make your reservations to try their tea offerings. Or if you're craving Pel'meni, stop in for dinner. Just make sure to try dessert!