These 7 decadent menu items will only be available for Mother's Day at Holts Café

If like us you’re coming off of a recent Bridgerton binge and are looking for any way to perceive your own life as a lavish period piece, we’re here to suggest you attempt doing so through food.

With Mother’s Day soon upon us, it’s the perfect excuse to indulge in a decadent brunch or better yet, a luxurious afternoon tea event. And where better to do so than Holts Café, the opulent, contemporary Canadian spot located inside luxury department store Holt Renfrew (near Louis Vuitton) — that acts as the perfect setting to spoil the mother(s) in your life.

On May 7 and 8 only, Holts Café will be featuring a specialty Afternoon Tea menu crafted by Chef Derrick Sibayan that includes various sweet and savoury splendours accompanied by 12 different teas from Sloane Fine Tea Merchants. So, in honour of the grandiose event, we’re spilling the tea on the top seven menu items that we cannot wait to taste test. So get those pinkies up, and sip on this truly delectable list.

Petite Croissant

Holts Café Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea tasting menu (Holts Café)

Arguably the star of any French meal, this variation of the Parisian classic is a butter croissant filled with Dungeness crab and baby shrimp salad with crème fraîche, citrus zest, and chives tying it all together.

Paired with any of the various Sloane Fine Tea Merchants teas offered at this luncheon such as Heavenly Cream, Grand Gen Mai Cha, Peaches and Cream, Oolong Crème, and Marrakesh Mint — you can already be sure this is an outing your Mom(s) will be thanking you for years to come.

Blini

What could be more of a delight on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon than a little, fluffy French pancake made savoury by the presence of smoked salmon mousse, fried capers, dill crème fraîche, and pickled cocktail onions? And amidst bites, you may even opt to learn a new party trick. A live origami artist will be attending the event from 12 to 4 pm on both days, making paper flowers for guests that they’ll be able to take home on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Tartelette

Holts Café Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea tasting menu (Holts Café)

Most of us can agree that anything made mini becomes cuter. That’s very much the case for this tartelette, which is a small French tart featuring spring pea mash, lemon zest, mint, basil, and tomato chutney, topped with Grana Padano. How many different ways are there to say “yum?”

“One of our favourite elements of Afternoon Tea is how playful we can be when creating each unique item,” Sibayan tells Daily Hive. “We love to be whimsical and contemporary with the menus so that our guests can have the most exciting experience possible with us.”

French Macaron

The first of the sweet show stoppers is the most exquisite of all cookies, the French macaron. This macaron has a honey crust and a lavender filling — and is sure to transport you to a lush spring garden in the French countryside (if only).

“A macaron has so much potential, and we love finding the perfect flavour combination to fit our menus. That comes with hours of testing (and tasting) new flavour combinations from local bakeries and making sure that they’re perfect for our guests,’ says Manager, National Operations at Holts Café, Steven Smith. “Honey and lavender are such a sublime combination that we hope you’ll love.”

Petite Parfait

Holts Café Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea tasting menu (Holts Café)

If we don’t have you drooling already, buckle up. This vanilla and caramel sponge cake is topped with London fog mousse and a feuilletine crisp — a confection made from thin, sweetened crêpes that are crumbled into flakes. Altogether, this is sure to be a texture-clad dessert that you and your Mom(s) can’t get enough of.

Madeleine

These traditional French pastries are most often two small spongecakes bonded together in a shell-like shape. The one to be featured at Holts Café will boast brown butter and lemon mousse, a flavour combination known to wow crowds in various capacities.

Pâte à Choux

Holts Café Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea tasting menu (Holts Café)

For all the cream puff and coconut lovers, this one is for you. This French choux pastry ball is filled with white chocolate and coconut custard and is dusted with icing sugar — like a little cloud of pastry goodness.

‘We’ve been working for months to create the perfect menu for the most important people we know, moms,” says General Manager at Holts Café, Jason Harris. “This menu will only be available for two days of the year, and it features so many special items that we’re sure will impress.”

Holts Café’s Mother’s Day tasting menu is $55 a person and will also include many more indulgent items, such as red velvet scones and brioche cucumber sandwiches. Brunch will also be offered over the weekend in an à la carte style, featuring items from the Café’s new spring menu.

Reservations are required for the Afternoon Tea experience and can be booked through Open Table here by making a reservation for May 7 or 8. When booking in Open Table, make sure to put “Afternoon Tea” into the notes to the restaurant. To learn more about Holts Café follow them on Instagram.

Holts Café Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea 

When: Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8, 2022
Time:

• Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm
• Sunday: 11 am to 6 pm

Where: Holts Café, 737 Dunsmuir Street Vancouver, BC
Price: $55 a person; make reservations through Open Table