Lady Connemara Bar and Lounge

Lady Connemara Bar and Lounge | Taj Connemara, Chennai

The History of the Afternoon Tea Ritual Dating back to 1865, English Afternoon Tea is credited to the Duchess of Bedford. The legend says that the first lady to enjoy ‘Afternoon Tea’ was Anna Maria, the 7th Duchess of Bedford who lived at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire and was lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. The Duchess of Bedford is said to have experienced a ‘sinking feeling’ in the middle of the afternoon one day and asked her footman to deliver all the tea making equipment with some bread and butter to her private room. She found this new meal so satisfying and enjoyable that she soon started inviting her special friends to join her for ‘Afternoon Tea’. Even when she went to stay with her aristocratic friends in their manor houses, she took her own kettle and tea making items with her so that she could continue her afternoon parties when she was away from home. The simple platefuls of bread and butter that first accompanied afternoon tea developed into much more elaborate selections of sandwiches, scones, muffins, cakes, biscuits, gâteaux and fruit desserts. At the Lady Connemara, we would bring to our discerning guest this great tradition to experience just like many others at the iconic TAJ CONNEMARA. Re-born in a modern era, the Afternoon Tea reflects the tastes and desires of modern-day society with due reverence to its fine heritage.