One of my hobbies when on location - I was in Boston to direct the comedy "The Lonely Maiden" - is to search for the best traditional afternoon tea, an apt passion for an Englishman. Fortunately, I didn't have to dredge up tea from the harbor and anyway, Bostonians and Brits have long since made up.
As pre-production commenced (I was here with Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, William H. Macy, and Marcia Gay Harden), I began my quest. But first, something about the brew itself.
Tea to the British is what coffee is to Americans. Yes, there is a
For the most part, the English drink one of four brands: PG tips, Tetley, Ty.phoo, and Barry's Tea; about 35 million cups of PG tips alone are brewed daily. Everyday tea is a quick and easy thing, more akin to the cup of joe served in the diners of America, not precious or discerning, just hot and plenty. And the taking of tea is not the chichi, pinky-twirling ritual that some think it is. Oh no. On the contrary, a tea bag is slammed into a mug, assaulted immediately with boiling water (has to be boiling, I would make tea with steam if I could), then bashed around with a spoon until the right color is achieved. Milk and sugar are added, and there you have it. In fact, PG tips launched a pyramid shaped tea bag more than 10 years ago for manual workers to more easily pluck the bag from the water without a spoon.
The only other decision is when to add milk. Milk in before the tea or after the tea is a hot debate in Blighty - a debate I indulge in frequently with my production designer, Chris Roope, an Englishman who insists that it is milk in last and reminds me that a popular postwar putdown was, "She's a bit milk-in-first!"
I am a milk-in-first man, so it is with some glee that I can report on the recent findings of the Royal College of Chemistry, who tell us that, chemically speaking, milk in first is best. Through some experimentation by a Dr. Stapley, it was found that when exposing milk to high temperatures, as one would do when pouring the milk into boiling water, the milk tends to break down and as a result acquires a stale taste.
On set my assistant Rachel Okerman now makes a good "cuppa," with the uncanny ability of producing a steaming cup at just the right moment.
Looking back I remember endless Sunday afternoons of my childhood, when Mom and Dad would take us to the wonderful tea shops of Southern England. I always half expected to find David Niven and Deborah Kerr sipping tea in the corner. It was here that my thirst for afternoon tea began.
In strict contrast to everyday tea, afternoon tea does involve a bit of pinky twirling. Created to fill the void between breakfast and a hearty evening meal, the ritual has since evolved into a modern social event with small sandwiches, cakes, and an assortment of scones with jam and cream. It's a cross between a small dinner party, coffee with friends, and a picnic. And I love it. Afternoon tea in the United States seems to be taken almost wholly by women. I often find myself the only man in the room. But that's fine by me; I have always loved the company of women. I married a rather lovely one and we made three more small ones, Molly, Elsie, and Dora. Molly and Elsie love tea. Dora's only six and prefers hot chocolate, but time will tell.
Back to my quest. Once every week here, I took tea with cast and crew members in order to find the winning venue for our end-of-shoot tea party. There were ups, there were downs, there was the Taj, there was the Plaza. The Four Seasons was very pleasant but when the food (supposedly for two) arrived, I was tempted to ask, "Where's mine?" One Sunday turned ugly when a large black hair was discovered in a scone; the less said about that the better. Almost all places had trouble with the precise procedure for making loose leaf tea: they suffered from far too many leaves. The rule of thumb being one teaspoon for each person, then one for the pot. The pot must be warmed. Pot to the kettle, never kettle to the pot (so you pour the water when it's hottest).
The Ritz-Carlton inaugurated afternoon tea on Nov. 11. Actor Breckin Meyer and I were the first (and only) visitors that day, but try getting a table now. On a recent Sunday we descended on the hotel lobby: Producer Rob Paris; his wife, Claudia; producer Jonathan McCoy; cinematographer Ueli Steiger; make-up artist Thomas Nellen; production designer Chris Roope; Christopher Walken; and I. Seven men and one woman, for a change.
Most were virgins to the delights of afternoon tea, but the Ritz didn't let us down. This is how it should be. Excellent service - thank you, Patrick - fresh, crisp sandwiches, and plenty of them, delectable cakes, and plump, hot scones. All in all a super, slap-up feed in very pleasant surroundings. We found our winner and a lovely way to end our stay.
British-born director Peter Hewitt spent two months filming in Boston.
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