“More champagne madam?” the man in the bow tie, white gloves and tails asks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It’s not the sort of question you normally hear on High Street, but then again, this isn’t your typical, run of the mill shopfront.
We’re in historic Mansfield House, built in 1887 in classical Victorian style and now dazzling again after a painstaking four-year renovation. It was once the grandest CBC Bank of them all, Sydney included, but since December 16 has been home to a new venture, The Palm Court Tea Salon.
Their specialty? High teas, no expense spared.
Think china specially commissioned from England, all silver teapots, cutlery, sugar bowls and tongs … Veuve Cliquot champagne by the glass.
It’s all the brainchild of the man in the bow tie, the wonderfully named Huckleberry Campbell.
If the name is familiar, Huckleberry is a keen student of history and leads walking tours of Grossman House. When a friend bought Mansfield House, Huckleberry was asked for advice on the restoration – and started to fall in love with the place.
“When I saw this room getting closer to completion I just thought it was crying out for high tea,” he explained.
There would be those who would think Maitland isn’t ready for high tea, but the early signs suggest otherwise. When I visited there were about 15 people there for lunch, which ranges from $75 for the top end high tea washed down with Veuve Cliquot, down to $12 for a gourmet sandwich.
There’s also such things as a ploughman’s lunch for $24 Devonshire tea $15, all day sweets for $10, wine by the glass and, of course, coffee and teas.
“We do a few high teas and are finding a lot of people from Newcastle coming up for it,” Huckleberry said. “It’s early days but the response has been good.” Huckleberry plans to make the most of the magnificent building and expand his options. “We’re offering people a choice of where they want to eat … here in the main room where we can seat 100, or in the grand dining room which can seat 20 people, or we can set people up in the formal garden out the back,” he said. “We’re also going to branch out and do functions, events, birthdays, that sort of thing.”
Me? I went for the breast turkey gourmet sandwich with cranberry sauce, leafy salad blend and Swiss cheese, washed down with good coffee.
Stepping off the street through the old bank building double doors you’re stepping into another world, into our town’s history. And High Street is richer for it.
