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Can the most vivid imagination picture the angels (above the stars) drinking coffee?
No. Yet, if I were to show them to you over the teacups,
you would not be surprised or shocked. Would you? Not a bit of it.
Arthur Gray - The Little Tea Book
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York Cocoa House, Blake Street, York - Monday 30th December 2013
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Tea Takers
Sarah Ryan
Rachel Hodgson
Alex Farmer
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Another fine York tea today, continuing to make the most of the tea-taking opportunities of the holidays. It was very important to find an opportunity to have tea with Rachel, who is another special school friend. Having both been busy in our early professional and married lives it has been a further fine by-product of owning our house in York, that we have been able to see each other more regularly, as Rachel, Michael and their lovely daughters, Rebecca and Sophie are fortunate to be proper residents of the city. Today we were able to leave fathers and daughters enjoying festive relaxation while we had a grown-up ladies tea, and the opportuntiy for longer relaxed conversations. Alex, now a veteran for whom this is the third tea of the proceedings, has come to spend New Year with us, and with her tea companion credentials well established, we made up a very jolly party. It was good to introduce friends from different parts of my life and for us to be able to enjoy a comfortable and entertaining tea, in a very attractive and cosy cafe, while the winds howled around the streets outside.
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The City of Chocolate
York is a city whose most notable industry has been chocolate - if that isn't reason enough to live here, I don't know what is. The trade began in the city in the early 18th Century, and Rowntree's, Terry's, Craven's all blossomed as major chocolatiers and confectioners in the 19th Century. Whilst the world of big business has changed the nature of many of these old firms, chocolate is still produced by Nestle
in the city and on days when the wind is in the right direction, we can walk out of our front door and inhale chocolatey delight.
The city proudly celebrates its chocolate heritage, with trails, museums, plays and now an annual chocolate festival. In 2011 one York chocolate enthusiast opened the York Cocoa House, which is cafe , shop and 'chocolate school' - it is attractive, quirky and stylish, and in its attractive Georgian town house setting in the centre of town, it is unsurprisingly popular. We had to wait a little while for a table, but queuing is most suitably sweetened by the provision of luxurious chocolate buttons whilst you wait.
The interior is attractively eclectic with varied tables and chairs, a book-lined room housing their chocolate library and various displays of York chocolate memorabilia.
A large glass counter displays an impressive range of enticing chocolate cakes and biscuits.
A very civilised setting for a winter afternoon.
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We opted for the 'Afternoon Chocolate' afternoon tea menu, which promised an extraordinary array, begining with chocolate savouries, followed by chocolate and cherry scones and a range of chocolate cakes. The pots of tea arrived promptly and we were able to fortify ourselves for the challenges ahead, helped by the delightful accompanying lemon curd truffles.
The savouries were particularly unusual - rarebit with chocolate, crostini with chocolate pesto and chocolate tapenade, and chicken wraps with a chocolate mole (for those, who like me, don't know about such things this, this is pronounced mo-lay, and is a Mexican sauce, not a small chocolate burrowing mammal).
To be honest, the chocolate was not a strong taste feature in any of these, but they were very pleasant, and the rarebit really quite delicious (the first rarebit of the odyssey, and certainly worth the inclusion). Still, it gave a coherent theme and a novel twist.
I was not sure what I would make of the scones, but actually was very pleasantly surprised - I enjoyed mine very much and the topping of crunchy sugar added an additional pleasing taste and texture. Alex was a little concerned by their crispy finish, but I felt this worked in the particular combination.
Rocky Road, Chocolate Orange and stem ginger brownies topped the cake stand and were generally agreed to be delicious, although we were all rather full by that point. It was a generous and well-thought-out tea and was very suitable for the setting.
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The Happiness and Sociability of Tea.
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Thirty-Second Tea - Thirty-Second Year
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Another lovely afternoon, and I hope to return to the York Cocoa House - Rachel and I were both taken with the idea of their chocolate workshops, and I am sure there are some very important skills thta we really ought to learn.
Tea and chocolate - a joyful combination.
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