Sex and the City Afternoon Tea

It was my birthday yesterday - the big 27. I am officially in my 'late twenties'. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I celebrated the occasion with a Sex and the City themed afternoon tea at the Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill, in Portman Place.

The tea is held in The Montagu - a light, airy space festooned with conical chandeliers. 'I wonder if the main restaurant is called The Capulet', my mum quipped.

On arrival we were presented with purple menus, sat in brown velvet chairs and asked to pick a cocktail. Far too early for a straight Martini, I opted for the more playful Flirtini (Champagne, Vodka and pineapple juice), while my mum chose a Cosmopolitan, chiefly due to its pink hue.

While perusing the menu, I clocked a glass Louboutin shoe with a signature red heal and crystal stem, perched next to a bottle of Piper Heidsieck. The Champagne house has collaborated with the sole man to create a Louboutin Champagne glass. Puzzling over the dynamics of how one can successfully imbibe Champagne from a shoe, the waiter came hurrying over to give a demonstration.

'You pour the Champagne in the heel, tilt your head back, and drink it through the shoe', he said proudly. I imagine it works better as a show piece than an actual glass, but the sheer audacity of the idea is applaudable. Fashion is theatre after all - Salvador Dalí and Isabella Blow would have adored it.

Time for tea! There are four brews on the menu, one for each of the four characters. Sensible Sapphire Earl Grey for Charlotte, Darjeeling for Miranda, the exotic Flowering Osmanthus for experimental Samantha and Organic Silver Needle White Tea for particular Carrie. I went for the Carrie tea, as the tasting note promised 'cucumber and melon freshness with a satisfying velvety finish'. While very refreshing, it was a tad on the bland side - not a cucumber or melon in sight.

What the tea lacked, the food more than made up for. Ceremonially served on a three-tier stand, on the bottom plate were quintessentially English cucumber sandwiches, slithers of juicy pastrami wedged between slices of Rye and adorable mini smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels - very New York. Moving up a rung the American theme continued with miniature hot dogs drizzled with mustard and a pair of 'Jack' Burgers, named after one of Carrie's boyfriends in the series.

At the top tier all manner of treats awaited – mini Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts, adorable mini pink strawberry cupcakes (as made by Charlotte in the latest film), cheeky Appletini vodka jellies that looked like a cross between Kryptonite and Listerine but tasted divine, and the pièce de résistance, a pair of strawberry flavoured white chocolate stilettos so artfully crafted it felt wrong to eat them.

The tiny red shoes were exquisite. I bit the heel off first, then popped the whole shoe into my mouth. Eating such a work of art felt strangely iconoclastic, but my guilt soon subsided when I saw my mum avidly munching on hers.

Sex and the City Par-Tea afternoon tea runs until 30 September and costs £39 per person. If you're feeling flush, for an extra £65 you can pimp your tea with a bottle of Piper Heidsieck Brut NV, and drink it from the Louboutin shoe.