Anniversary Afternoon Tea at The Langham Pasadena

Every year, The Langham Hotels around the world celebrate their anniversary with a ridiculously priced afternoon tea. The price is what the original Langham in London used to charge back in 1865: 1 shilling and six pence. That, dear readers, amounted to $0.15 this year. Fifteen cents!

Before this, I have not had the chance to try the Langham afternoon tea, and what better time to do it than when it was only 15 cents as opposed to the usual $39?

The afternoon tea is held at The Lobby Lounge of the Langham. We got a nice table by the window overlooking the green expanse of the hotel.

For this event, the servers also dressed up as if it was 1865. Our server had on a mustard suit and a cute blue ribbon while the female server was wearing a blue dress of that era.

The Langham offers a pretty nice selection of classic and scented teas. I ordered the Orchid Oolong, described as being "highlighted by a touch of coconut to offer the tranquility of a fragrant bouquet of fruit and floral notes in a rich, soothing infusion." Rich, indeed.

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Heirloom Tomato Dinner, The Terrace at The Langham (Pasadena)

'Tis the season for heirloom tomatoes! These red pearls were the theme of The Langham Pasadena's latest Farm to Table dinner at The Terrace.

Before the dinner, we had a wine reception in the lobby lounge with creative appetizers such as the "pizza chips" (airy pizza-flavored chips made from tapioca) and macaron with a guacamole center.

All the passed appetizers and the dinner courses were prepared by Erik Schuster, the Executive Chef of The Terrace, while the wine pairings were done by Eric Espuny, the GM of The Royce upstairs.

After appetizers and glasses of wine, we move downstairs for our dinner.
As soon as we sat down, we all fell in love with the tomato tapenade they served with the bread. We had to ask how they made it and while I don't remember many of the ingredients (beyond the obvious tomato and olive oil), it apparently involved anchovies.

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Hot Brunch at Playa

The promise of a free pitcher of Julian Cox's cocktail during brunch was all I needed to try out the brunch at Playa, John Sedlar's newest restaurant (thanks, BlackboardEats!). And I was glad I did.

Now, being a Latin restaurant (they call it "urban Latin"), you can expect a lot of kick in your egg dish. Spicy sauces abound, though not everyone.

I love tamales so obviously went with the Tamal (Cracked Corn Masa, Pulled Pork, Sunnyside-Up Egg, $12)

Yes, that is Clockwork Orange on the plate (part of his changing Reflexiones series). The sauce was pretty spicy for me but the egg yolks helped with that. A hearty and satisfying breakfast plate!

Oh, and make sure you get the Blue Corn Muffins made with Anson Farms Organic Cornmeal, served with a side Almond Butter ($6)

Not only were they cheap at $6 for 4 pieces, they are incredible. I have never had an unfilled muffin so moist with such a distinctive flavor. I'll be back for these. Over and over.

(Look, it's really blue inside! Or more like purple?)

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