Dolci Momenti Afternoon Tea Review
A new Italian-style afternoon tea called Dolci Momenti has launched at Il Pampero, Belgravia. On a rainy wet Saturday afternoon in February, we headed to check it out.
Arriving at Il Pampero, located within The Hari, we spotted a bright yellow bench with an old style lamp on one side, and a United Jack bench with a grass dog sculpture on the other. Both were very cute. Walking in there’s a stylish lobby with exposed brick and lounges. Moving into the Il Pampero restaurant we saw a sophisticated venue with Italian-inspired interiors. There’s black and white floor tiles, dark green walls, paintings and rounded booths under the windows. My friend and I both felt it was a lovely space for afternoon tea.
Inspired by the country’s timeless tradition of leisurely and sophisticated gatherings, the Dolci Momenti Afternoon Tea offers an Italian twist on afternoon tea. Instead of the traditional sandwiches and scones, there’s a curated selection of freshly prepared antipasti and delicate pastries. Created by Angelo Albera, Dolci Momenti is where Italian flavours meet modern elegance.
The menu was gorgeous with a black and white image of ladies sitting to tea with an Italian landscape in the background, with gold lettering. With the white table cloth and a glass of Moët & Chandon we felt glamorous.
Dolci Momenti Afternoon Tea includes five savouries and six sweet treats. As one would expect there’s ingredients we associate with Italian cuisine such as tomatoes, Parma ham and Parmesan. There’s carpaccio on ciabatta, with ricotta, aged Parmesan and rocket, a focaccia with 24-month Parma ham, stracciatella and balsamic, and bruschetta with heritage tomato, basil and olive oil on toasted sourdough. All were light, fresh and really conjured an image of Italy. For those seafood lovers, you can look forward to the crab and smoked salmon roulade with crème fraich. The crispy deep fried taleggio with fig jam was our favourite. Seriously, is there anything better than fried cheese?
Moving onto desserts, I always find it hard where to start. As someone who has a sweet tooth and loves coffee, I really enjoyed the tiramichoux- a choux with mascarpone cream and espresso glaze. I’d easily eat a box of these. My friend found the Bomba, an Italian mini doughnut with pistachio cream, a little too doughy; but I didn’t mind them. Our least favourite was the monte bianco, due to the texture combination of the meringue, vanilla, crushed chestnuts and cream. We did like its presentation with yellow and purple flowers. The same flowers were used for the caprese. This flourless lemon and almond cake with lemon gel was delicious and the lemon tang just right. For both of us, this was the standout. To finish we had the iconic Italian dessert cannoli. This crunchy pastry was filled with sweetened ricotta, chocolate and candied orange.
Of course it’s not afternoon tea without a cup of tea. There’s a refined tea selection from JING Tea form black to green tea to herbal infusions such as JING Whole Rosebud or JING Chamomile Flowers. I had the JING Darjeeling 2nd flush. It’s a fragrant and refreshing black tea that is light, crisp and soft textured. Or for those like my friend who prefer coffee, there’s bean to cup coffee from Illy. Or like us you can also upgrade to the champagne from Moët & Chandon.
Dolci Momenti is available Thursday to Sunday, 2.30pm until 4.00pm at Il Pampero at the Hari, Belgravia. The classic afternoon tea is £35 or the champagne afternoon tea is £50.
Address: 20 Chesham Place, Belgravia,
London SW1X 8HQ
Phone: +44 (0)20 3189 4850
Email: E: [email protected]
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilpampero
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ilPamperoItalian
Written by Caitlin Neal
