We have enjoyed the glamorous afternoon tea service at the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal in the past. So, it was very nice to do the same at the Toronto location’s lovely EPOCH Bar & Kitchen (epochtoronto.com). This re-imagined contemporary social hub, featuring a tailored cocktail menu and a chef-driven dining experience, opened on Sept. 1, 2021, inside The Ritz- Carlton, Toronto. It offers a confluence of casual, yet imaginative dishes, focusing on sustainably sourced ingredients and cocktails in an understatedly elegant setting with a warm, inviting atmosphere.
The venue boasts 61 seats in the dining room, as well as 88 additional spots on a lovely terrace. This is set amidst lush foliage and Simcoe Park, with a stunning centerpiece bar and a feature wood-fired stone oven. Guests can sip cocktails at the bar, choose from lounge seating, dining tables, or the cozy Green Room with a fireplace and pool table
We were guided to a comfortable table in the restaurant overlooking the terrace. Our server, Lindsay, provided a comprehensive overview of the tea selection and what a treat that was! They are divided into categories of white, green, black and herbal loose-leaf teas. She brought them over in a box, with each flavor in different jars. We were offered to first enjoy the scent before making our selection.
While I chose the sugar plum fairy decaffeinated tea (organic rooibos, natural tangerine flavors and rose petals), the other two members of our party went for the eros (black tea scented with essential flavors of natural mandarin orange amd Madagascar vanilla) and the pear tree (organic young hyson green tea naturally perfumed with the essence of freshly plucked ripe pears).
Lindsay brought an hourglass to the table with three different colors of sand to match our selections. We had to wait until each moved from top to bottom before commencing what turned out to be a delightful experience, with the option of adding cubes of sugar and honey.
You can also elevate your experience with a toast and we took advantage of that option with two glasses of champagne.
The service is classy all the way. In no time at all, a tower of delicate butter scones, finger sandwiches and sweets arrived at the table. It was so stunning to look at that I immediately took a photo before the bites began to disappear.
So what did the towers contain? The scones, traditional and cranberry, with house-made Devonshire cream, strawberry jam and rose petal raspberry jam, came to us hot out of the oven, so we began with those first. The next tier featured was the mini lobster roll (sesame, poppy seed brioche bun), sablées salés au prosciutto (rosemary sable cookies, whipped goat cheese, apricot jam), mini croissant with smoked salmon (lemon caper cream cheese, pickled onion and arugula) and the chicken sandwich (milk, bread, gold raisins and dill crème fraiche).
For sweets, the Meyers lemon cake (lemon cake, lemon curd and candied lemon), mango coconut pavlova (crispy meringue, mango compote, coconut chantilly and mango jelly), the Ontario strawberry Paris brest choux (choux croquelin, strawberry compote, strawberry whipping ganache and strawberry coulis) and the tonka chocolate caramel tartlet (caramel tonka cremeux, chocolate cremeux, caramelia whipping ganache and cocoa nib crumble). The EPOCH Bar & Kitchen can accommodate dietary restrictions, including vegetarian and vegan preferences, for the afternoon tea experience.
We could not eat them all, so we packed up a few to go. But then came a surprise, a plate full of truffles. We sampled a few and added the rest to our take-home box.
See my Instagram post:
The hotel entrance, main floor washrooms and the restaurant are fully accessible, with an accessible elevator located inside the latter.
The Ritz-Carlton Toronto and EPOCH Bar & Kitchen are located at 181 Wellington Street. There is valet parking for free. Call 416-572-8094, e-mail info@epochtoronto.com, or log on to https://www.epochtoronto.com. Afternoon tea is available Monday to Friday from Noon to 4 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm.