Where: Dunwoody, Georgia Style: Colonial revival Tea Selection: 2 prepared teas Teatimes: Annual Afternoon Tea (Spring) Reservations: Pre-paid reservations required Contact: 770-668-0401 Cost: $40 Sesquicentennial Afternoon Tea Destination Tea Tips: While the Dunwoody Preservation Trust is considering adding seating to welcome more guests at future teas, we advise becoming a DPT member to be the first to know when tickets go on sale for this event. Note that though the farm has a Chamblee-Dunwoody Road address, the parking lot is on Vermack Road.
Destination Tea Notes: Fifteen years before Destination Tea was founded, afternoon tea was served in our hometown – Dunwoody, Georgia – at the Farmhouse Tea Shoppe, housed in the first historic home saved and restored by the Dunwoody Preservation Trust (DPT): the Cheek-Spruill House. DPT was actually first formed to save this 1906 farmhouse, and went on to manage the restoration of a second historic Dunwoody property: the Donaldson-Bannister Farm. Especially because we have long regretted missing out on a visit to the former Dunwoody teahouse, we love that DPT has brought afternoon tea back to historic Dunwoody, by celebrating the Donaldson-Bannister Farm’s 150th anniversary with a tea party, which they plan to host annually.
The ladies of DPT’s Sesquicentennial Committee (say that three times fast) diligently researched and menu-planned this afternoon tea with the guidance of local author Judith McLoughlin of Shamrock and Peach tour company, who served as guest speaker between courses. The culmination of their preparations and cooking was a relaxing, yummy teatime peppered with afternoon tea education and heartfelt stories. We look forward to this becoming an annual tradition in our community, where friends old and new gather in a historic setting to support the DPT’s work in a very delicious way.
Appreciating the gem green accent color used on these doors and shutters.
Aprons at the ready
Hello Judith (and to her right, Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch)!
Tea Service
A mix of pretty teapots standing by in the kitchen, ready to serve the prepared Irish Breakfast tea, which Judith explains is primarily Assam, blended with Kenyan tea for a malty flavor. In contrast, she says, English Breakfast tea blend is a bit more delicate. In Ireland, she tells us, Irish Breakfast is known as “a good cup of tea you can stand on.” She recommends adding milk as they typically do in Ireland.
A little bird perches over a rose vine on this pretty teapot. The second tea served is a tisane: Herbal Fruit Paradise, a blend of berries, rose hips, currants and hibiscus.
Many of the teacups are loaned to DPT by David Long, a longtime community supporter and local interior designer, like this one with an Asian garden motif. The DPT committee supplemented his collection with thrift store finds.
My first time spying a forked handle on a teacup – love these details
Scones & Spreads, Savories and Sweets
Extra tall, ornamental three-tiered trays crown our tables.
Tea sandwiches include Roast Beef with Horseradish Mayonnaise (very nice), Salmon with Cream Cheese Dill Spread, a rich Pimento Cheese, and a table favorite – Cucumber with Cream Cheese Dill Spread.
Homemade currant scones are flaky and buttery, served with mock clotted cream and preserves.
Dessert includes gingerbread cookies, lemon tarts, and super yummy chocolate cinnamon cookies, almond shortbread cookies and raspberry crumble bars. The DPT committee should be commended for some excellent baking!
Judith is a lovely ambassador for tea customs and traditions. I so enjoy meeting her, and dreaming of a tea tour in Ireland (someday!). Throughout the tea, Judith speaks about the history of afternoon tea and Irish tea customs, such as offering a cup of tea as a mark of hospitality, and shares her teapot collection with us to demonstrate the evolution of the teapot from clay yixing teapots to silver and finally porcelain. In this picture she is holding a Wedgwood teapot originally created in 1761, for John Wesley of the Methodist Church. Its design has a rose for England, a thistle for Scotland and shamrock for Ireland. I was touched to learn that this teapot has prayers printed on each side, to say grace before tea is poured: “Be present at our Table Lord Be here and everywhere ador’d These creatures bless & grant that we May feast in Paradice with thee.”
The mock clotted cream served at the tea is a recipe from Judith’s book, which spans food culture from Judith’s Irish heritage to her present day life in the American South.
Our hard-working hostesses, the ladies of the DPT Sesquicentennial Committee, with guest speaker Judith McLoughlin; and our happy faces after a lovely afternoon tea [Photo Credit: Dunwoody Preservation Trust]
Hello Claire, if you specifically mean the Dunwoody Preservation Trust tea at the Donaldson-Bannister Farm, they do it annually in the spring, and this year’s is sold out. To get first dibs on the afternoon tea seats, become a member of the organization (they open the event to members first). If you are looking for an afternoon tea near you, please see your state afternoon tea directory for choices, including pricing and teatime details (www.destinationtea.com/teavenues). You are also welcome to email angela@destinationtea.com and tell us where you are located, and we are happy to make tearoom recommendations.
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How much is your Afternoon Tea and what hours do you serve it?
Clairehertzler@gmail.com
Hello Claire, if you specifically mean the Dunwoody Preservation Trust tea at the Donaldson-Bannister Farm, they do it annually in the spring, and this year’s is sold out. To get first dibs on the afternoon tea seats, become a member of the organization (they open the event to members first). If you are looking for an afternoon tea near you, please see your state afternoon tea directory for choices, including pricing and teatime details (www.destinationtea.com/teavenues). You are also welcome to email angela@destinationtea.com and tell us where you are located, and we are happy to make tearoom recommendations.