Destination Tea: Swan Coach House

Where:  Buckhead, GA
Style:  Southern Lady
Tea Selection:  2 prepared hot teas
Teatimes:  Quarterly Tea Dates, 5-7 pm
(Private parties of 20 to 200, 7 days a week)
Reservations:  Recommended advance notice, 3 dates available each season
Contact:  404-261-0636
Cost:  $36 (25% gratuity added) Seasonal Afternoon Tea; $29 Child (25% gratuity added); Private Parties: $39 Adult, $19 Child  sample menus here
Destination Tea Tip:  The entrance to the Swan Coach House is on Slaton Drive, behind the Atlanta History Center’s main building. Bring cash to tip the valet or look for street parking on Slaton Drive and plan to walk a bit. As you approach the house, either use the restaurant entrance on your right to go directly to the dining room, or use the main entrance to visit the gift shop first, as it closes during the course of your tea. Follow Destination Tea on Facebook to learn about upcoming holiday tea dates.

Prices and teatimes are subject to change. Please see our Atlanta afternoon tea directory for the latest details.Swan Coach House exterior

Destination Tea Notes:  Dining at the Swan Coach House readily transports you into times gone by. After all, you are in the backyard of the Swan House, a 1928 mansion where many an elegant Southern afternoon tea was likely enjoyed. Warmly ensconced in walls upholstered in a bright floral pattern, you can almost imagine you are at tea in the 1960’s, with the twelve Atlantan art patronesses who turned the estate’s former carriage house into the Swan Coach House restaurant and gift shop. Society here is genteel and decorous, so you’ll want to use your inside voice. High tea is served at an authentic evening hour, with an emphasis on homemade Southern delectables. If your tea-going party is small, be on the lookout for seasonal tea dates, where tea is served in the main dining room (pictured below). Year-round, should you have an occasion to gather 20 or more friends for a private tea reservation, you will have the treat of venturing into one of the other four historic private dining rooms the Swan Coach House has to offer.

Dining room entryway at Swan Coach House
Decorative iron gates invite you to enter the dining room.
Dining room at Swan Coach House
Tables are at the ready for reserved guests who check-in with the hostess in the waiting area. Floral fabric covers the walls and chandeliers with bright lampshades warmly light the space.
Crisp white linens and flowers at Swan Coach House
Tables are set simply with china and white roses.

Tea Service

Tea is poured at Swan Coach House
Servers continually serve bottomless cups of your choice of Earl Grey or chamomile teas.
Serving station at Swan Coach House
A serving station holds pots of hot tea and chilling champagne (for those who go for the bottomless champagne add-on).

Scones & Spreads, Savories and Sweets

Cheese dip, preserves, crackers and scones at Swan Coach House
Tables are preset with cheese rings with sweet preserves (a favorite of ours), assorted crackers, “holiday scones” truer to a sugar cookie in consistency, and cheese straws.
Afternoon tea curate at Swan Coach House
All three tiers of the tea tray are dedicated to savories, beginning with chicken salad and pimento cheese tea sandwiches. In the second tier, open-faced olive sandwiches were the perfect tasty bite alongside cucumber nibbles with Boursin cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.
Savories at Swan Coach House afternoon tea
The bottom tier proffered miniature ham biscuits with a dollop of Swan Coach House recipe honey mustard (yum) and shrimp salad in phyllo dough cups.
Chocolate swans at Swan Coach House afternoon tea
The dessert platter elicited a good bit of excitement, with its chocolate-dipped strawberries, ginger cookies, key lime tartlets and, for la pièce de résistance:  miniature French silk swans.
Inside of chocolate mousse swans at Swan Coach House
Chocolate mousse hides inside the swans.
Christmas trees and gift shop at Swan Coach House
A large shop with wide array of gifts connects to the dining room, but closes during the evening tea service, so visit before going in to tea if you are interested.
Night outside Swan Coach House
Night-time lighting showcases the private dining areas of the Swan Coach House, which welcomes groups of 20 to 200 for private tea parties daily by advance reservation.
DestinationTea
Tea Voyageuse, discovering the world of afternoon tea, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

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