"Tea & Cake London" by Zena Alkayat

I love to read about tea rooms, even if it's a tea room I can't go to. It's just fun to read about all the tea room "personalities" and how each one is slightly different. For that reason, I was tickled when my husband came across this new (2013) book in a London bookstore last month and pointed it out to me. A few quick peeps inside and I knew I needed this book, even though it was by then too late to add any more London tea rooms to our visit.

The wonderfully named Orange Pekoe located southwest of London is just one of the tea rooms featured and sounds well worth a visit — but so does every place in this book!

If I get to visit London again, I'd love to go somewhere new like The Teahouse at Petersham Nurseries, which I learned serves seasonally-inspired food and Canton Tea Co. teas. The book includes well-known tea spots such as Fortnum and Mason, The Ritz, The Dorchester, Claridge's, and The Orangery at Kensington Palace, all featured in the chapter "Grand Affairs-Afternoon Tea." But chapters also include "Everyday Specials" (Cafes and Tearooms), "Pop In, Take Out" (Bakeries and Patisseries), "Tea With a Twist" (Alternative and Themed), and "Virtuous Vices" (Vegan and Allergy-Friendly). I had seen this book somewhere online and thought it was similar to a cookbook I already owned. After I saw it "live" and realized it was actually a guidebook, not a cookbook, I wished I'd had it before my trip. If you're planning a visit to England in the near future, or even if you're simply an appreciative armchair traveler, you might want to check it out!