Blowhard, Esq. writes:
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably developed a certain image in your mind of how I am in real life. No doubt you think of me as a mega-Alpha male not unlike a combo of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and a Major League pitcher. And of course you’d be correct. But I have my foppishly dandy side, too, which I got to indulge recently by having afternoon tea at the Boxwood Cafe, one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants.
The cafe is located in The London West Hollywood, an elegant hotel catty-corner from the Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.
When we arrived at two on a Saturday the place was pretty empty, but a few more couples came during the hour or so we were there. I didn’t get a good look at them, but two young women (late 20s?) sat behind us talking in great detail about the one’s new relationship. “So, you’re in love. Let’s talk about it from every angle,” the chatty one said. The first order of business was whether the one was going to sleep with her new beau for the first time that night given that it would be their third date. (I swear I’m not making any of this up.) After that topic was settled, the chatty one started talking about her dating travails. Of her current boyfriend she said, “He’s not interested in anything so he’s not interesting. Weird how that works.” No, lady, not weird at all, makes complete sense.
When we asked for recommendations the waiter admitted he wasn’t much of a tea drinker (“I prefer coffee.”) but noted the rose with French vanilla was the most popular, so that’s what I ordered.
I’m not the tea connoisseur that Eddie is, but I thought my choice was lovely — an herbal/garden flavor touched with sweetness, just as one would expect. As the right-hand column on the menu states and the picture below shows, the tea was accompanied by a generous selection of finger sandwiches and desserts. My favorite sandwiches were the curried chicken with raisins and ham with asparagus, while my favorite desserts were the licorice macaroon and blackcurrant scone with Devonshire cream. Everything was sophisticated without feeling too fussy.
The English have their afternoon tea, the French have their long lunches, and the Spanish have their midday siestas — some cultures really know how to pace the day, don’t they?
Related
- Many Yelp reviewers are underwhelmed by the Boxwood. Which reminds me, valet parking is $15 but only $6 if you eat at the hotel, so don’t forget to take advantage of that.
- More of Eddie’s tea chronicles here, here, and here.
- I eat and drink my way through New York.
- My photoessay of an epic meal in Las Vegas.
Blowhard, Esq.
Callowman
Sherbrooke
Eddie Pensier
Enzo Nakamura
Epaminondas
Fabrizio del Wrongo
Fenster
Brundle Guy
Glynn Marshes
Paleo Retiree
Atypical Neurotic
Question Lady
Sax von Stroheim
Sir Barken Hyena
The Mistaken
Uncouth Reflections 
I love good hotel restaurants. Unfortunately, they are few and usually only in hotels I can’t afford to stay at. This one looks great. The flip side always confuses me: why does the typical Marriott/Hilton/Sheraton type hotel usually have such a god-awful restaurant? You’d think a good restaurant would be a money maker in a hotel (certainly they rape you for breakfast). But they serve the worst slops there most of the time.
The restaurant Reynard in the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg is quite excellent. Worth a trip as a dining destination.
BTW, for the New York crowd. Speaking of restaurants, check out Blenheim in the West Village. The new chef is still getting his legs under him, but they are doing some really nice things there. And not too crowded yet.
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That’s the great thing about tea: you needn’t be a connoisseur to enjoy it.
Great review, glad you had a good time!
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Internet review sites have empowered the sufferers of OCD to drone on about the indignity of having their fussy expectations not being met by a business that appeals to an audience whose mix of tastes are broader than those of the individual fussy reviewer. In fact, they don’t review the goods and services, so much as detail how the goods or services offended their disordered and idiosyncratic preferences, like anyone else would give a damn.
You can spot these in food reviews that focus on texture rather than flavor. People with OCD are cripplingly fussy about certain food textures, sometimes absolutely and sometimes only in combination with other certain textures. Not that texture can’t add or subtract to the experience of taste, but rarely in a make-or-break fashion — common complaints about texture mean the person has numb taste buds, and that their mouth is capable of only tactile perception. It’s as though the tongue were just an extra little hand to pass food along down into the gullet, without savoring the flavor.
Why do colorblind people review paintings? Why do taste-impaired people review restaurants? Why do people with no rhythm review music? To broadcast how annoying the pleasurable things in life are to someone with deadened senses. They’re interesting as psych case studies, but let’s only hear from people who aren’t disordered to convey to normal people what the experience was like.
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That was in response to following the link to the Yelp reviews.
Those amber glass shutters are a pleasant surprise, BTW. They’re familiar to us but unexpected in this setting. They’re warm, rather than red-hot, so they feel welcoming rather than off-putting like other, campier attempts at out-of-place design surprises.
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“No doubt you think of me as a mega-Alpha male not unlike a combo of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and a Major League pitcher.”
I had you pegged as part of the AfroPunk crowd. Now I’m confused.
Fine post BTW
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Reblogged this on Will S.' Sunny Side Blog and commented:
Great post. Nothing like enjoying good food or beverages at a lovely place like that.
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