By James FitzPatrick
Contributing Writer
The Flanders Hotel will officially get its centennial birthday celebration underway with a series of monthly high tea events starting 2 p.m. Sunday, June 18.
The Centennial Tea series will include historical facts about the Flanders Hotel. Each guest will be presented with a stone coaster with a vintage picture of the hotel on it plus an easel for display. Each guest will be given a handout describing one of the ballrooms and historical pictures of that room.
The particular ballroom will be determined by the number of guests.
“Each one will be centered around one of our banquet center rooms, whether it’s the Candlelight Room, our Crystal Room, the Garden Room, or the Terrace Room,” said Peter Voudouris, president of the Flanders Hotel Condominium Association and director of hotel and banquet operations. “And we’ll provide history about each room for each tea.
The first monthly Centennial High Tea on June 18 will feature a special menu offering a first course of spinach and artichoke quiche with crab, a lemon white chocolate scone, or apricot jam and mascarpone with walnuts in a phyllo cup.
A second course of ham, apple and gruyere cheese on rye will be offered in addition to marinated tomato, roasted red onion with boursin spread on toasted focaccia bread, shrimp salad with dill on New England roll, plus deviled egg with crispy leeks.
Their third course offerings will include strawberry shortcake, German chocolate cake bite, and macaroon.
Service will be provided by wait staff in banquet tuxedos and white gloves. The menu will be different for each Centennial Tea event.
The price is $47.95 plus tax and a service charge. For reservations and inquiries, call (609) 399-1000 ext 7889, or email catering@theflandershotel.com.
Seating is limited.
According to the Flanders Hotel website the tradition of the afternoon high tea dates to 1840 when Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, introduced the idea to England.
Dinner was traditionally served about 8 o’clock in those days. This was a little late for Anna’s taste, who usually got hungry around 4 o’clock, so she began enjoying tea and a late snack in the late afternoon to hold her over until dinner. She started it, but soon it became a fashionable summer tradition among her circle of London friends.
“It didn’t take long for other social hostesses to adopt this practice, and soon enough, it became fashionable for the entire high society to partake in the leisurely activity of sipping tea and indulging in sandwiches during the afternoon.”
Centennial High Teas are planned on the third Sunday of each month: June 18, July 16, Aug. 20 , Sept. 17, and Oct. 15 leading up a gala centennial party on Nov. 18.
As far as the 100th anniversary celebration is concerned, the hotel is still finalizing the details but the plan is for an elegant event with antique cars from the 1920s, and antique boats lining 11th Street.
There will be bellmen and the hotel will be decorated in the era of the 1920s, Voudouris told Shore Local News in a previous interview.
The hotel is going to partner with the Ocean City Historical Museum, which will have historical artifacts on display and experts there to explain them. The Ocean City Pops will also be part of the celebration.
Guests can expect carving stations, a raw seafood bar, and fancy desserts. The main event will be a ticketed, semi-formal with period costumes optional.
On Sunday after the gala, there will be a 100th anniversary. Centennial High Tea with keepsake gifts and entertainment for a for all those who attend. A commemorative booklet is also planned.
Voudouris said his wife, Arlene, has been the interior designer for all the hotel’s renovations leading up to its 100th birthday party.
“We renovated our ballrooms, we renovated our second-floor men’s and ladies bathroom. We renovated Emily’s Ocean Room Restaurant. The lobbies have been upgraded.”
The Flanders is ready for a once in a lifetime party.
Copy editor and Contributing Writer James FitzPatrick has been a community journalist in Atlantic and Cape May counties for more than 30 years, including 20 years as editor of The Current Newspapers. He lives in Hammonton.
