Vintage High Tea
$115.00
High Tea:
Indulge in a traditional high tea experience, with a little extra flair. This gourmet high tea will be carefully designed by your personal chef to match your unique tastes and preferences, and can even be tailored to a cuisine or theme of your choice.
Enjoy an abundance of delectable canapés and a variety of exceptional organic teas, including a range of small food items and larger savoury canapés. All ingredients hand-selected by your chef to guarantee the highest quality, and the experience includes set-up and decor.
The price is per person, inclusive of GST, a minimum of 10 guests applies, includes an average of 12 gourmet canapés per person.
What’s included?
- All necessary High Tea equipment, including crockery, cutlery, and decor/set-up,
- Minimum of 4 varieties of premium, high quality organic Australian-grown teas,
- 2 varieties of substantial savoury food items,
- 4 varieties of smaller savoury food items,
- 6 varieties of sweets/dessert items.
You can find a few sample high-tea menus by scrolling further below.
Book in 3 easy steps:
- select add to cart,
- enter event details,
- secure pay online.
If you would like to book this package and add service staff or additional products please add this package to the cart and then go on to add the additional packages. In case you want a different package simply go back to the main shop page and view the rest of the Private Chef packages.
Your menu will be fully customised based on your requirements by a Private Chef.
Menu examples
1. Chef Robert’s Traditional English example menu:
- Tea: English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Black Rose Tea, Emerald Mango Paradise
- Substantial items: Bakewell Tart, Cheese and Onion Flan
- Tea sandwiches: Lemon Chicken, Garden Vegetable, Dijon Pesto, Watercress Egg Salad
- Sweets: British Fruit Cake, English Scone, Margarita Pie, Chef’s freshly baked Tea Cookies, Toasted Coconut Tea Cakes, Mini Cheesecakes with Vanilla Wafer Crusts
2. Chef Chris’s Modern Australian example menu:
- Teas: Bergamot Black Tea, Burdock Journey, Rose Green Tea, Chamomile
- Substantial items: Yorkshire Curd Tart, Mushroom Strudel
- Small savoury: Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Finger Sandwich, Scotch Eggs, Shrimp Skagen, Dijon Pesto tea sandwich
- Sweets: Victoria Sponge Cake, Custard Pie, Thumbprint Cookies, Candied Citrus Peels, Eccles Cakes, Earl grey teacakes
3. Chef Sailesh’s New Zealand example menu:
- Roasted Dandelion Green Tea, Coconut Black Tea, Linden & Elderflower Tea, Sleeping Beauty
- Substantial items: Pork Rillettes, Corned Beef Egg Rolls
- Small savoury: Smoked salmon slider with cream cheese & dill, Coronation egg finger sandwich, Chicken Curry Puff, Watermelon and buffalo mozzarella salad
- Sweets: Dilmah Earl Grey and raisin scone, Dilmah Green tea cheesecake with hazelnut, Passion fruit mini tart with raspberry Italian meringue, Raspberry macaroon with white chocolate ganache, Chocolate cupcake with Valrhona chocolate mousse, Pear & saffron and browned butter muffins
CHEFIN Booking process
Next Steps
- Secure your booking by paying in full. If using bank transfer/EFTPOS, please ensure you use the order number as a payment reference.
- CHEFIN will email you a booking confirmation and calendar invitation. This will include a form to collect your information and particular needs/requirements.
- Once you have filled in the form and sent it back to us, and your booking is sooner than in 3 weeks, we will assign a Chef based on your needs and desires.
- Your assigned Chef will design a unique menu tailored to your brief, event, dietaries and tastes.
- You can preview this menu, provide feedback, and advise of any menu & event changes along the way.
Frequently Asked questions
What happens once my booking is confirmed?
After booking, you’ll receive confirmation along with a brief questionnaire about your event, food preferences, dietary needs and any special requests. From there, our concierge team coordinates the chef, menu and practical details leading up to the day.
How does CHEFIN choose the right chef for my event?
We select a carefully screened private chef whose experience suits your location, preferred cuisine, guest requirements and style of occasion. Chef availability is also taken into account, and you’ll be introduced to your chef before the event.
Can the menu be tailored to my guests?
Yes. Your menu is developed specifically for your occasion rather than taken from a standard restaurant menu. Your chef will consider your tastes, dietary needs and selected experience, and you can provide feedback before the menu is approved.
What facilities will the chef need?
Your chef will usually require a clean, functional kitchen or suitable preparation space, access to power and running water, and enough fridge space for the ingredients. Crockery, cutlery, glassware and table settings are generally supplied by the host unless your chosen package states otherwise. We’ll confirm the requirements with you beforehand.
When will the chef arrive at the venue?
For most events, the chef arrives approximately 90 minutes before the planned dining time. This allows enough time to set up, organise the workspace and complete the final preparation. Arrival times may vary depending on the menu, guest numbers and service format.
What is included in a CHEFIN private dining experience?
Your chosen package may cover menu planning, ingredient shopping, food preparation, cooking, plating, service and cleaning of the kitchen area. The inclusions are outlined clearly before you book, so you know what is being handled and can spend the occasion with your guests.
When should I order a high tea?
High teas are the perfect catering option for small gatherings and special occasions like bridal or baby showers, hens nights, picnics, Christenings, birthdays, and celebrations like Mother’s Day. High tea catering doesn’t distract from the event nor requires too much in terms of setting up & serving, and so it is the perfect option when you want food to be the backdrop and not the main star of the show.
Order high tea when you want your event to have small snacks and finger foods that are substantial but not too filling. It’s the perfect catering option when your event sits between two mealtimes but you don’t want people to go hungry.
What is the history of high tea?
High tea first achieved widespread popularity in the 1840s. At that time, the tradition was to serve breakfast in the late morning and dinner in the late evening, with no meal in between. The aristocratic English gentlemen of the time would often hold long, extended business meetings during the middle of the day while their wives sat waiting for them at home. These lengthy meetings were sometimes quite drawn out and lasted hours on end, leaving the wives at home getting hungry. Enter high tea!
Duchess Anna of Bedford is often credited with having the first high tea, asking her servants to bring her a tray of tea, cake, and bread and butter while she waited for her husband to return from his meeting. This became a regular habit for the Duchess, and she eventually started inviting her lady friends over to enjoy a cuppa and a small sweet snack. Slowly, this afternoon tea habit spread amongst the English aristocracy and became the event it is known as today.
In the 1920s, high tea came to be recognisable as the event we all know and love today – complete with extravagant teacups, silverware, fine linens, and the best tea money can buy! Of course, high tea is just as much about entertaining your company as it is about sipping on delicious tea and sweet scones.
What is high tea etiquette?
Some people equate high tea with a set of etiquette or table manners, which can be intimidating. But don’t worry! Firstly, we at CHEFIN would never impose any etiquette or table behaviour on you – you are free to enjoy your meal as you like, with the company you love. That said, if you’d like to prepare yourself with some know-how of high tea etiquette, here are the dos and don’ts:
- You must first spread cream on your scone before jam,
- You can only sip from your tea once you have finished chewing and swallowing the food in your mouth,
- You must try both sweet and savoury dishes – this is a balance that should be maintained!,
- Of course, you mustn’t talk with your mouth full,
- It’s advised to eat with small nibbles rather than big bites,
- When sipping from your teacup, keep your eyes focused inside the cup and not staring at whoever is seated across from you,
- When leaving the table, drop your napkin on your chair and excuse yourself before getting up,
- Never drink from your teacup while it has a spoon in it,
- Don’t place your napkin on the table unless you are ready to leave.