My husband,whom,I might add is British , and I, would like to enjoy high tea (a "cuppa")in New York City. Any suggestions would be most welcome and appreciated. We will be in NYC during Christmas week.

My favorite place for this is the Pierre. It is a fabulous room -- a rotunda with cherubs on the ceiling -- the food is wonderful and the service is the tops.

Some like the Plaza. It is also a beautiful location (although a bit overdone for my taste) and you may feel like there are lots of tourists peering at you because there are!

Since he's British, I'm sure he is well aware that high tea is a full meal in the evening. Is that really what you're looking for? Or are you instead looking for an afternoon tea, maybe with pastries, and/or finger sandwiches?

Well, what happened to the rest of my post?
I too suggested the Pierre, the Cafe Botanica in the Essex House, or the Palm Court in the Plaza.

Payard Bistro, upper east side, has wonderful pastries and a nice tea, but not so lush and comfortable a setting.

And there's a really fun, but sort of "over-the-top" cutsey place called Alice's Tea Cup on the upper West side, near Lincoln Center.

You have a point, Patrick. What about Tea and Sympathy? I don't know if they have a "full meal" type tea, but I believe the owner is also British and it might be nice to find a countryman in Manhattan. Plus, I'm sure what they serve is authentic!

Ah, that's a name I was trying to think of. I've never been there so can never remember it, but it sure gets a lot of good reports. Tea and Sympathy.

You are correct, Patrick. No, we are just looking for tea and finger sandwiches and pastries. Also, what is the dress code?

The Pierpont Morgan Library
29 E 36 St between Madison and Park
The Morgan Court Cafe .. high tea every afternoon.
I so enjoyed browsing through the manuscripts, Mozart , George Washington, DaVinci, letters, and music! then tea in the Cafe which looks like a green house, just lovely!

Scarlett,

The Library is undergoing major renovations and will be closed for quite a bit.

Oh I am sorry! I think I might have been away too long now weeping.
I guess I prefer to think that New York has remained exactly the way I left it 10 months ago
Thanks kpatric

There are a lot of places now that serve afternoon tea. Two that are well regarded that haven't been mentioned yet are the St. Regis Hotel (evidently very plentiful food) and Lady Mendl's at the Inn on Irving Place. There are also a number of more casual places. My favorite has also been the Pierre for the ambiance (and the fact that it's just across from the Plaza and it's something of a secret) but I gather if you're going for plentiful food, the St. Regis is the better option. It's in the King Cole room which has a famous Maxwell Parish mural.