High Tea, Low Calories

The British have a different kind of happy hour - it's called tea time. Depending on when - and where, and with what and whom - "afternoon tea" can be the functional equivalent of the American mid-afternoon coffee break, drinks after work or cocktails before dinner. But it costs a lot less in calories!

American coffee breaks are often abundant in guilt-provoking pastries or greasy donuts full of sugar, fat and flour. Drinks before dinner can add up to alcoholic excess or lead to agonizing choices: "If I drink now, I'd better skip wine with dinner." Our cocktail parties present a double whammy of alcohol and cholesterol-laden finger foods, rarely enjoyed because of the inner dialogue: "I shouldn't be eating this, I don't need the calories," or ''I'd better skip dinner altogether," or "How am I going to drive home?"

The British ritual is so much more civilized. It is usually served between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. as a break between the midday and evening meals. Early tea time is a pause that refreshes before going back to work. Enjoyed after work, tea is non-alcoholic bridge between day and night, city and suburb, office and home. Tea revives and relaxes; in contrast, liquor can numb and stupefy.

Heading for the hotel's tea salon instead of the bar is an alternative to consider the next time a business associate suggests drinks or lunch. Meeting for tea can be every bit as impressive. A properly served British tea in the right surroundings speaks volumes.

With fitness and health the new fashion, hotels and restaurants in major cities have already discovered the merits of afternoon tea and are bringing the ritual here. While some hotel dining rooms tend to combine the afternoon tea with the caloric excess of a Viennese coffee house, the food traditionally served with British afternoon tea is intentionally light. It has much form and little substance - a great virtue when you're trying to keep your own form

from having too much substance. Consider, for example: