Tea is confusing. A high tea is also a meat tea, but a high tea can also be an afternoon tea. A meat tea is not an afternoon tea. And tea parties just open up a can of worms.

Fortunately, Chicago has several options for those who simply want tea, pastries and little sandwiches.

Some of the teas are served in notable hotels. The Drake at 140 E Walton Place is along the northernmost stretch of the Magnificent Mile. The afternoon tea is served from 1 to 5 pm in their Tea Lobby. Seatings last an hour and a half, and feature live harp performances. The tea runs $36 and reservations are recommended.

The Lockwood Restaurant in the Palmer House at 17 E Monroe Street serves tea from 2 to 4 pm daily. They offer a selection of rare tea cellar teas. The sitting is $35 and reservations are recommended. Despite being burned down in the Great Chicago Fire only 13 days after opening, the Palmer House was rebuilt and reopened in 1873. It remains the United States’ oldest continually operating hotel.

The Peninsula Hotel at 108 E Superior offers an afternoon tea in The Lobby. They offer a vegan and gluten-free menu for those of delicate natures. Weekday teas are from 3 to 5 pm, Saturdays 2:30 to 4:30 pm and Sundays 4 to 6pm.  They also feature Fashion Friday Afternoon Teas with an informal fashion show on selected weeks. You could expect to pay around $39.

Russian Tea Time at 77 E Adams provides an afternoon tea service from 2:30 to 4:30 daily. They specialize in a combination of Eastern European and Central Asian flavors. The Tashkent carrot salad was a delight, and I don’t particularly care for carrots.  Their full tea service starts at $27.95 and also features an array of a la carte treats.

Tipsycake at 1944 N Damen serves a Traditional Afternoon Tea from 2 to 5 pm. As a bakery, they specialize in custom designed wedding cakes. The window displays are colorful and jaw-dropping. Their scones are buttery as opposed to sweet, and are served with clotted cream and gourmet jam. Tea runs $22.

Perhaps after sampling these, you will invite us over for your own tea party. Please do not think us too forward.

Thanks to our friends at Terra Mysterium for this heads up.  Local Chicago theatre troop The Bohemian Theatre Ensemble is doing a “steampunk” rendition of the French classic Tartuffe running at The Wit theater in Lakeview through Feb 12th.

To quote their website.

Using steampunk (a scifi subgenre that mixes Victorian history and aesthetic with futuristic steam-powered technology) as a backdrop, BoHo’s production mirrors the tumultuous societal landscape of 17th century France as a world that at once seems both familiar and alien, when old and new exist side by side. Without losing any of Molière’s wit, BoHo’s Tartuffe makes it obvious why a man would desperately believe the lies of a swindler over the word of his own family. Continuing our season-long exploration of the Bohemian pillars of truth, beauty, freedom, and love, Tartuffe explores the pillar of truth through the eyes of a liar.

Sounds fantastic!  Also, check out the trailer below!

For more information and to buy tickets to this show do visit their website HERE.

Some of our same friends who work on and are behind the phenomenon that is Theater Bizarre are at it with a new production “Wonderland” based on Lewis Caroll’s seminal novel.  The stage production and accompanying DVD is vehemently cabaret, burlesque and steampunk while remaining true to the Detroit ethos of taking something and making it, well, strange.

To quote the production’ website

“For those who missed it, Wonderland takes the basic concept of an
act-by-act variety show, combines it with the narrative story line
adapted from Lewis Caroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and
features a live score performed by our Wonderland band, The Glass
Orphans. With everything from break-dancing playing cards to a
mad tea party who’s sanity is literally hanging by the skin of it’s back,
Wonderland is a modern retelling of a classic tale through music and
burlesque.”

And what better way to celebrate a DVD release than a live stage show and party! If you happen to be able to make it to Detroit this Friday do join them at The Redford Theater. It will feature burlesque and sideshow performances by the actors of the DVD, as well as DJ sets by our own Lords & Ladies DJs on the Caroll-esque Fusion-O-Scope.

Tickets are $15 in advance and can be purchased online or at Noir Leather in Royal Oak, MI.  Otherwise they can be purchased at the door for $20.  The show is at 9pm.

Chances are that we will see a renewed interest in Chicago history with the 2013 cinematic release of Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City with Leonardo DiCaprio as the murderous H.H. Holmes. After all, it should combine the grandeur of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition with the grand guignol of Holmes.

If you have not read the book (which we advise) or don’t have the time for it in the next year, try the Devil & the White City Tour guided by Weird Chicago. My recent trip featured stops at the Congress Hotel where Holmes fished for victims, the Union Stockyards and the corner where once stood the infamous pharmacy and “murder castle.”

Weird Chicago can lead you down the twisted path of Chicago murderers, gangsters, ghosts and even the tawdry red light districts. Tours tend to run on Fridays and Saturdays. They are $30 per person ($20 for 12 and under, although the sexy tour is $40 and only for the 18+).

Reservations and availability can be found at www.weirdchicago.com.

If you’ve been to our events lately you’ve most likely noticed a very well dressed and wonderfully pleasant group of people frequently at them.  If you’ve not had the pleasure to meet them yet, they are our good friends at the Chicago arts collective Terra Mysterium.

This Saturday, December 3rd at 7pm they will be presenting a special holiday performance of Betwixt & Between, A Journey Into Faery.  The benefit supports their upcoming Terra Mysterium steampunk show, and guests will get the first glimpse of it. They promise mystery, dark romance and transmutation.

$30.00 General Admission allows you to attend Betwixt and Between, browse the  Silent Auction, and enjoy a Faery Feast. $40.00 Notable admission adds red or white wine personally served by one of their Fae. $50.00 VIP Admission also includes a Special Souvenir Package with gifts from each of the Fae.

Reservations with payment must be received by November 30, 2011, and can be bought at either http://blog.terramysterium.com/2011/11/announcing-winter-benefit.html
or www.terramysterium.com.

The benefit will be held at The Chicago College of Healing Arts, 1622 W Devon, Chicago, IL.