Children of the Night and Daywalkers alike are invited to
experience the mystical High Tea at the Vampire Café in the French Quarter. The
atmospheric little restaurant caters to those in search of sustenance for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but for one day each month when those lazy
afternoon hours roll around, The Vampire Café puts on a special event that
feeds your body as well as your soul.
High Tea is a southern tradition in which people (often
donning fancy hats) sit to have a long snack and talk about where they're going
for dinner. Vampire Café's High Tea Service takes that tradition and puts a
spooky spin on it that locals love to indulge in.
When you enter the richly decorated café, you are escorted to
your table upon which a blood red napkin is folded to resemble a bat, but the
gold cutlery placed like a cross upon it wards off any evil entities. The music
emanating from above is dark, yet intoxicating. Cher's "Dark Lady" and Fiona Apple's
"Criminal" set the tone for this tea.
At this event, you are first asked which hot tea you would like
for your meal. This may be the most important question of the day because the
leaves of your tea will later be read. From the options of Stake This herbal rooibos tea, Nosferatea
fruity tea, or the spicy Blood Tea, I chose the Blood Tea because I was told that
this tea had a little surprise to it. After it was brought out in the cutest
tea cup, a bloody illusion appeared in the bottom of my cup. An adorable pool
of blood created by the steeping tea. If that sounds too creepy a simple stir
will make it disappear before your eyes.
The second choice of the meal is which bubbly drink you'd
like to have. You are asked to choose between the A+ (Dracula sparkling wine
with a touch of pear bellini), the A- (Dracula sparkling with St. Germain), and
simply Dracula sparkling wine. Knowing that the spirit of St. Germain, one of New
Orleans' most prolific vampires, was probably seated among us, I chose the A-.
I love having one hot and one cold beverage simultaneously, so I was pleased by
my two drinks.
A three-tiered plate of lovely confections was brought out
next. This is quite possibly what makes high tea so much fun. The top tier held
little chocolatey confections including the most adorable bat-shaped chocolates.
The second tier held two huge, soft blueberry scones and whipped butter; these
are great for dipping just a little bit in your hot tea. The third tier held an
array of ladyfinger sandwiches of egg salad, cucumber, and smoked salmon. Being
so catered to by the friendly staff, listening to the sexy music, taking bites
of bats with a sip of A-, then the tea-dipped scone, then indulging in the
savory smoked salmon sandwich felt so incredibly luxurious in this darkly
enchanting environment does make you feel like vampiric royalty. But the fun
has only just begun…
Now that the tea has been drunk down except for the last
drop, your tea leaves are ready to be deciphered. A lovely server sat with me,
explained how to invoke the magic of tea leaves so that they may be read, and instructed
me on how she would explore my leaves. They can only guide you so far because
you know your life better than anyone, and you are encouraged to look into the
cup yourself to see what makes sense. I can't tell you what my leaves said, but
it was spooky how much sense they made to me.
At the conclusion of the Vampire Café's High Tea, you are
given a little gift because they can't let you walk away empty handed. A tea
cup, saucer, and loose-leaf tea spoon are presented to you to take home along
with instructions on how to read your own tea leaves to divine your future. While
you may get good at seeing your life spread throughout the leaves, how can you
resist returning to the Vampire Café for another High Tea in a month's time?
To learn more about Vampire Café's High Tea or other meal
services, visit nolavampirecafe.com.
