Afternoon Tea: Gramercy Terrace at Gramercy Park Hotel

I am pleased to add another New York City hotel tea to my afternoon tea list.  However, like the service at the Hyatt Union Square, the tea at Gramercy Park Hotel is not a traditional afternoon tea.  Service begins at lunch time and there are no three-tiered trays.  I was accompanied by Jee of Oh How Civilized.

Like a few other places, the savories and sweets are served on a single tray.  There was no choice in the type of sandwiches and pastries offered which is why I ended up with a charcuterie sandwich.  I am a pescatarian.  I removed the meat from one half of the sandwich and enjoyed the olives and cheese.  The home crowd really liked the other half!

The spinach croissant was delicious though the leafy green was unevenly distributed.  It was like eating a warm spinach pie. Yum.

The third item on the tray was a cherry danish.  I liked the cherries.  Now on to the tea.

This summer I have been ordering herbal tisanes at tea time but at this tea, I selected the Keemun Imperial.  (Only the $6 teas are available for the afternoon tea.)  All teas are from In Pursuit of Tea.  The keemun was steeped and poured into a pot before being brought to the table.  Surprisingly, the keemun became more robust with each pour.

Before the tea service began we were presented with a basket of bread and corn madeleines.  The latter were particularly good.

This afternoon tea is priced at $30 which seems out of line with similar unconventional afternoon teas but the rooftop setting is unusual.  I would go back for à la carte service of tea, spinach croissant, and corn madeleines!