Las Vegas restaurants are constantly looking for the next big thing. At The Bedford by Martha Stewart, however, they’re reaching back nearly two centuries for their latest dining experience. The restaurant at Paris Las Vegas has introduced Afternoon Tea, bringing an old-school dining tradition to a city where the ritual remains a rarity.
“Afternoon tea is a big part of the culture in New York,” says Aymeric Brillaud, vice president of food and beverage for Paris Las Vegas, who spent a decade working in The Big Apple before coming to Las Vegas. “I felt like that meal period was missing in Las Vegas.”
Afternoon tea dates back to 19th-century England, where Anna Maria Russell, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, is widely credited with popularizing the tradition around 1840. As legend has it, the duchess found herself getting hungry during the long stretch between lunch and dinner and began taking tea and a light meal in the afternoon, eventually inviting friends to join her.
That history makes The Bedford a particularly appropriate place to celebrate the tradition.
“We said, ‘Duchess of Bedford, The Bedford,’” Brillaud told the Food and Loathing podcast. “It just made so much sense.”
Of course, the connection goes beyond the restaurant’s name. Stewart, who has built much of her career around the art of entertaining, is an obvious pick to bring proper tea service to the Las Vegas Strip.
“She’s very, very experienced and professional when it comes to hosting afternoon tea, hosting dinners, hosting luncheons,” he says.
According to Brillaud, she and her team used her personal experience to design The Bedford’s tea service, available Fridays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m., with three levels of service. The standard Bedford experience is $64.99, while The Duchess, priced at $86.99, adds a glass of Champagne. The $169.99 Royal experience adds ossetra caviar.
All three begin with a selection of loose-leaf teas — an element Brillaud says was especially important to Stewart — accompanied by a traditional tiered presentation of savory tea sandwiches, scones and pastries.
The savory selections include a miniature version of Stewart’s signature lobster roll, tarragon chicken salad, smoked salmon and a garden tea sandwich made with cucumber and cream cheese. Classic and orange cream scones are accompanied by sweets including lemon meringue, Stewart’s cookies, chocolate cake and a strawberry-and-raspberry tart.
At a media preview before the service debuted, guitar and violin provided the soundtrack as guests worked their way through the tiered trays and pots of tea. Whether Las Vegas is ready to rediscover the pleasures of spending an afternoon lingering over tea, sandwiches and scones remains to be seen.
But if the tradition is going to make a comeback here, The Bedford — with Martha Stewart presiding over it — seems like a pretty logical place to start.
Hear more of our interview with Aymeric Brillaud on the September 18 episode of the Food and Loathing podcast.
