Tea at Windsor Court

Most people visiting New Orleans know all about Bourbon Street and the music and Commander's Palace, and all that. But one of my favorite things to do when I have guests (as I did for about a week) is to take them to tea at Windsor Court, New Orleans' five-star hotel.


My guests were my mom (on the right) and mom's friend Pat (on the left), who was a total hoot. They were both total sweeties, and they treated me to breakfast at Brennan's and lunch at Commander's in addition to the tea, so I made out like a bandit.

First, if you get the Royal Tea, the waitress offers you a choice of bubbly wine, chardonnay, or sherry. Then you get to pick a tea from the selection, which includes Darjeeling and jasmine and (my current favorite, even though I usually hate fruit-flavored teas) peach-mango. Then you get crustless sandwiches, scones, and then sweets. At first, you look at those little sandwiches and scoff, "Oh, this is hardly any food!" But, inevitably, by the time the sweets come around, you're all full and holding your belly. I don't know if it's how rich the food is, or all that tea, but very few people leave without a doggy bag.

I was sad to see them go, but now I'm absolutely buried in work I should have been doing. Bad Julia. No more treats for a while.