Tea with the Brontës

A very curious alert for today, January 29, from London at The Gilbert Scott Cocktail and Restaurant at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel:

Tea with the Brontës (January 29-February 12)

Experience the ultimate Yorkshire Afternoon Tea in our most fantastical of Victorian settings. Devised by General Manager and chef, Chantelle Nicholson and cult artist and creator of Visitoriana, Charlotte Cory, this traditional Yorkshire Victorian tea is a tribute to the famous writing sisters.

Charlotte Cory’s exhibition “Capturing the Brontës”, is an imaginative, witty and informative exploration of the family and the history of early photography, drawing on the Victorian craze for collecting cartes des visite – portraits once produced in their millions and now discarded. The exhibition has been in situ at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth in Yorkshire and will be available as an exclusive preview at The Gilbert Scott before it continues its journey to the Long & Ryle Gallery
(February 5-28).

Teatime featured large in the lives of the Brontes scribbling their famous novels in their secluded Parsonage. The Brontë themed tea will include Pontefract liquorice and chocolate cupcakes, Yorkshire Parkin (from an original recipe devised by the Bronte’s faithful servant Tabby), Wensleydale and pickle sandwiches in honour of the Brontë’s love of the Lake District, and Yorkshire puddings with mash and gravy as cooked by Emily Brontë, an ardent cook who would stir the puddings between penning paragraphs of Wuthering Heights.

The inaugural Brontë tea will launch on January 29th at 3pm with talks given by Charlotte and Brontë Society Executive Director, Ann Sumner, followed by the unveiling of the exhibition as it arrives in London. Interesting and informative, irreverent and anachronistic but above all as DELICIOUS as anything you would expect from the superb Marcus Wareing restaurant, this tea will delight Brontë fans and Victorian buffs alike. The discussion is free with any afternoon tea booked (£25 per person or £33 with a Victorian gin cocktail).

The Brontes themselves would have been fascinated by the setting at St Pancras Railway Station, they were wildly excited by the coming of the railways, the internet revolution of their times. Branwell, their little known brother, went to work on the railways, he was very proud of his job but spent too much time doodling and writing poetry. Emily Brontë famously traded shares in the railway and the last surviving sister, and only member of this brilliant Yorkshire family to enjoy literary fame in their life time, Charlotte Brontë took advantage of the new railway to come down to London to“enjoy life as a literary lioness”.

The tea will run from the 29th of January until the 12th of February and booking is essential; for more details or to make a reservation please call 0207 278 3888 or click here.

And at the other side of the ocean, in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil:

O Teatro Universitário Federal do Amazonas (Tufam) reúne quatro cenas na peça “Os solitários”. Duas delas adaptam trechos de obras de Clarice Lispector e Emily Brontë, e as demais são resultados de oficinas – caso da experimental “Diálogo da carne”, em que um açougueiro “conversa” com a peça de carne que está prestes a cortar. (Jony Clay Borges on acritica) (Translation)

"Os solitários"January 29 20h,
Auditório Javari, da Faculdade de Tecnologia, Setor Norte da Universidade.
UFAM, Manaus.