Fairmont Empress Afternoon Tea – Victoria, BC

I’ve dreamed of going to the Fairmont Empress for high tea/afternoon tea, but never thought it would be possible with gluten free restrictions. However, I called anyway, and was pleasantly surprised! The chef is very aware of allergies and has a complete gluten free version of the menu available! I immediately made a reservation (which is recommended) for American Thanksgiving day.

The Empress is a beautiful building and the tea lounge is lovely. It was decorated for Christmas and live piano music was playing on the baby grand piano. We were first given tea options and our server knew from our reservation that we would be dining gluten free. They had definitely prepared for us because our wait was not long and our tray included:

Gluten Free Scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam
Four types of sandwiches on gluten free bread: cucumber, smoked salmon, roast beef, and shrimp
An array of beautiful desserts: raspberry/cream macarons, an earl grey layered dessert, berries in a white chocolate mold with pistachio cream (our favorite), lovely shortbread, and chocolate ganache cake

It is quite pricey, so for us, was a one time experience, but I really appreciated how well they took care of us being gluten free!