Wellington on a Plate continued today with Homegrown high tea, an elegant high tea experience at Artisan Dining House in the Bolton Hotel. High tea featured a range of handcrafted gourmet teatime treats made with local ingredients and began with half a glass of The Griffin bubbles from Palliser Estate on arrival. The tables were set.

A bubbly start

The menu promised nine items sourced from locally produced ingredients along with a selection of teas.

High tea menu

 Thankfully we could exchange tea for coffee. Our high tea arrived.

Artisan Dining House high tea

Where to begin? The classic cucumber sandwich was actually on the top (dessert) tier, so we started there and then moved to the savoury bottom layer. You can see little venison pies, mushroom arancini, and lamb croquets. They're hiding a teeny tiny cheese scroll nestled in behind.


The middle tier had a range of sweet items, including citrus slice, almond friand and a Whittaker's chocolate coconut fudge slice featuring an elegant white chocolate shark with a pretty marbled effect. This was my favourite high tea treat.


We finished high tea with a tiny salted caramel macaron.


The Artisan Dining House is a lovely setting for an elegant Sunday afternoon high tea.