If there is one thing I can say about Coco Safar, it’s that they never do anything by halves.
As if any of their normal high tea’s weren’t incredible enough, the Coco Safar team decided to take it up a notch by introducing their new Coco Safar High Tea by Night Voyage. This re-imagined tea was created for the most discerning globe-trotting gourmands which are now, for the first time being served at night.
This theatrical culinary dining experience starts at sundown and is carefully curated to create a multi-sensory epicurean evening. Complete with cinematic elements hosted by a team that evokes the golden era of travel, the high tea experience starts at sundown and immerses guests in a culinary explosion. Everything from the staff uniforms to the presentation of the dishes is meticulously thought out, ensuring that every visitor feels as if they are on a culinary flight of excellence.
Inspired by the 4 cities you will be visiting during your dining experience, you can expect unexpected flavour discoveries – all of which will be delivered to your table with personalised guéridon-style service by the Coco Safar head chefs.
After departing Cape Town, your journey takes you to Paris, with a stopover in Istanbul, en route to Shanghai before flying back to Cape Town, all within 2 mesmerizing hours of immersive culinary escapism. The half-and-half decadent savoury and sweet menu will further be elevated by exciting innovative alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixology, including a choice of table side siphon-made botanical teas and slow-brewed single-origin speciality coffees. My only warning, you ask? Go hungry as you’ll have to work your way through a cornucopia of delicious bite size culinary gems – and you wouldn’t want to skip any of them.
A world first, three years of refinement and evolution between founders Wilhelm Liebenberg and Caroline Sirois, and our New York-based Executive Chef Rory MacDonald has gone into the immersive dining performance, ultimately marrying our iconic Dessert Bar Experience with the traditional high tea. This time with a travel theme reminiscent of fascinating travel destinations, that artfully blur the lines between savoury and sweet, served in equal doses.
Here’s what to expect:
The journey starts off in Cape Town where guests are presented with a green rooibos mojito spritzer and a beautifully delicate and refreshing buchu and eucalyptus ice bite – cleansing the palate for the feast to come. At the next stop, Paris, guests are served an array of wonderfully made bites including chèvre chaud chevin with caramelised green apples, candied orange, honey citrus reduction on a piece of grilled sourdough. After, enjoy a delicate and crispy potato mille-feuille served with rich wasabi mayo, grapefruit pearls and microgreens before tucking into the smoked foie gras with smoked duck liver pâté. Up next (and beautifully presented – if I may add), is a playful twist on oyster and champagne that simply delights your taste buds. The delicate dessert is served in an oyster shell atop of ice and is made up of a passionfruit & saffron sphere, pink peppercorn yoghurt, balsamic reduction and a hint of tabasco
Paris then ends off with a cheese board including a soft mini rosemary baguette with a side of tomato jam, chicken liver parfait, smoked savoury cheesecake on blue cheese shortbread and cranberry caviar. Next up is Istanbul where guests are served an array of wonderful dishes such as a refreshing green apple granita with white chocolate yoghurt mousse, fresh green apple, roasted pistachio, mint, basil, coriander. You will also be served A mini salmon simit, pistachio falafel with pesto basil hummus and a beetroot pot plant made with smoked beetroot, chocolate and microgreens.
After Istanbul is shanghai where you will be served a frozen baijiu with a miso cruller made with blood orange gel, soya bamboo, caramelised sesame seeds, brown butter ice cream – and yes, it is as incredible as it sounds. To end, a basil and cucumber cigar before ‘landing’ back in Cape Town where you will have a botanical tea & coffee experience along with café mocha cheesecake, koesister pâte à choux, naartjie Imperial, key lime pie, rooibos scones and a rooibos affogato
For more information on what to expect, visit their website here and be enthralled in the detail. Costing just R995 per person, the high tea is the experience for date night or a night out with the girls.
Fatima is the editor of Food&Home. Trained in English Literature and recipe development, she can be found eating her way through Cape Town armed with a cookbook in her bag and her camera at the ready.