The Royal Tearoom at Atlantis The Royal has partnered with one of the region’s leading pastry chefs, Christophe Devoille, to launch the UAE’s first Emirati afternoon tea experience, as well as a traditional afternoon tea offering. Taken in the ultra-luxury resort’s pristine main lobby, amidst its glittering Droplets sculpture and vast aquariums, the sophisticated and luxury afternoon tea experience features a decadent selection of savoury delicacies and pastries, handcrafted by one of the region’s most talented and highly regarded pastry chefs.
Priced at AED 440 for two people, Chef Christophe’s unique Emirati Afternoon Tea experience features an extensive selection of Arabic pastries, including Luqaimat, comprising crispy fried dumplings paired with an Emirati date syrup, a spongy Sago rich in cardamom, toasted coconut and topped with gold leaf, as well as the traditional Khanfaroosh, drizzled in local mountain honey. A decadent Halawet El Jibn is also served table-side comprising ashta cheese, delicate rose water, pistachio and amarena cherry.
Priced at AED 560 for two people, the Signature Afternoon Tea experience is presented on a refined stand of scones, finger sandwiches, and pastries, while a regularly changing selection of desserts are influenced by in-season fruits. Savouries include a candy tomato tart with ricotta pannacotta, an organic egg mimosa, and smoked turkey with black truffle. Followed by a beautifully presented selection of pastries, scones and preserves, including chocolate and almond cake, lemon and tarragon tartlet and fluffy scones with a rich clotted cream and raspberry, rose petal and lychee preserves.
As well as the afternoon tea offering, Chef Christophe has traversed the world to source the finest and rarest ingredients possible, handcrafting a Royal Tearoom menu of homemade chocolate bars and chocolate bonbons, as well as a luxury selection of handcrafted Arabic sweets, including Ash El Bilbul Cashew, chocolate Baklawa with macadamia and Baklawa Asiah. An all-day pastry counter also serves over 30 different types of tea including the increasingly rare yellow tea to accompany a selection of 16 homemade pastries and eight kinds of croissants, danish and brioches, all handcrafted by Chef Christophe’s talented team of nine bakers and 41 pastry colleagues, who work 24 hours a day to produce some of the most beautiful desserts in Dubai.
Signature desserts include the Vanilla and Blueberry Water Droplet inspired by the water found throughout Atlantis The Royal. Light blue in colour from a blueberry marmalade and shaped like a perfect rain droplet, this vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and nut-free dessert is not only beautiful but features a delicious blueberry and blackberry coulis centre. A second signature is the iconic Date Cake inspired by the prevalence of dates in Arabic culture. Shaped like a large date, Chef Christophe worked with PASTRYEVO based in France to craft a unique mould which combines sponge, confit, marmalade, cream and colours of a date, served with drizzles of date syrup for the ultimate in Arabic-inspired indulgence. Additional favourites include the Berries and Lavender Tart, the Caramelised Apple Tatin and the Vanilla and Caramel Millefeuille which is a 100% waste-free dessert comprising breakfast croissants from Gastronomy. A testament to The Royal Tearoom’s luxurious offering, Christophe sources pure, unadulterated chocolate from Nicolas Berger, an exclusive producer in France, specialising in an exquisite range of single origin chocolate.
Born in 1980 in Strasbourg, the German inflected city of France’s eastern borders, Chef Christophe has a deep appreciation for his country’s produce, exploring wide-ranging ingredients in his desserts. Christophe cut his teeth at the Michelin star New York institution La Côte Basque, helmed by Jean-Jacques Rachou, before spending more than a decade at the side of chef Alain Ducasse, as the corporate pastry chef for the Alain Ducasse Enterprise heading up the dessert team for 27 outlets worldwide. Following four years on the pre-opening team as Executive Pasty Chef of Wynn Palace, one of the largest resorts in Macao, China, Chef Christophe moved across the pond to head up the pastry kitchen of London’s celebrity haunt and private members club, Annabel’s, before deciding to go it alone, travelling the world as a pastry chef consultant, opening Amazónico in London and Dubai, launching Pavlova in Miami, and developing a chocolate bonbons and macarons menu for Saudi chocolatier, Aani & Dani.
With an impressive ability to create sweet courses that will appeal to Atlantis’ international customers, Devoille focuses on harmony, simplicity and balance when creating desserts, handcrafting every single pastry item found throughout Atlantis The Royal and utilising local ingredients including raspberry, honey, milk, pollen and herbs.
Afternoon tea, is one of the most quintessential of English customs, popularised during 1840 by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford. The Duchess would become hungry around four o’clock in the afternoon and as the evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o’clock, it left a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread, and butter (some time earlier, the Earl of Sandwich had had the idea of putting a filling between two slices of bread) and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her. This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880’s upper-class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o’clock.
The Royal Tea Room’s Afternoon Tea by Christophe Devoille is available daily from 2:00pm – 5:00pm. The Signature Afternoon Tea is priced at AED 560 for two people. The Emirati Afternoon Tea is priced at AED 440 for two people. To find out more or to book, visit www.atlantis.com/dubai/dining/the-royal-tearoom.
