A choice of desserts on Mo Lounge’s Afternoon Tea menu.
Photograph by Isabella Bernabeo
On the thirty fifth flooring of the five-star luxurious lodge Mandarin Oriental, a hidden gem awaits, providing a chic afternoon tea expertise every day from midday to 4:30 p.m.
Mo Lounge, a sky lobby-based restaurant positioned at 80 Columbus Circle, treats friends to gorgeous views overlooking Central Park, all whereas serving scrumptious plates of candy delights that stroll friends via a pastry chef’s life journey.
The Midtown lunch service, designed and led by Govt Pastry Chef Ron Paprocki, incorporates a various choice of teas sourced from the famend Uncommon Tea Firm.
Visitors can select between a protracted record of black, inexperienced, white and oolong teas, in addition to natural infusions, all thoughtfully paired with a prix fixe menu.
The menu begins with freshly baked ginger and butter scones, served with Devonshire cream and a strawberry rhubarb jam, earlier than shifting into the savory tea sandwiches.
The 4 sandwiches embody a Truffled Egg Salad Royale, a Cucumber and Boursin cheese, a Confit Duck Brioche and a Smoked Salmon with Watercress butter.
Lastly, the principle spotlight arrives, a line of pastries that takes friends via Paprocki’s pastry profession, starting with a crisp, caramelized Almond Florentine topped with a Luxardo cherry.
Paprocki, who was born and raised in Rochester, had his first apprenticeship for pastries in Germany.
“The very first thing an apprentice would do can be to make Florentine,” Paprocki mentioned. “So this little disc actually speaks volumes for me. It’s a great reflection of the place I got here from.”
The deal with is made with the very best components Paprocki might discover, together with domestically sourced honey from Queens, cream from Battenkill Creamery and Burlap & Barrel cinnamon.
The next pastries within the lineup even have an identical story. The Fraisier, also referred to as a French strawberry cake, was one thing that Paprocki had made when he was an Govt Pastry Chef on the Gordon Ramsay at London NYC, a two-michelin-starred restaurant in Midtown’s The London Lodge from 2006 to 2014.
Following these two desserts is a Ardour Fruit Choux, considered one of Paprocki’s favorites because of his love of acidity in pastries, and a Yuzu-Match Tart.
The meal ends with a wealthy 85% Darkish Chocolate Layered Ganache Cake that takes Paprocki straight again into his childhood.
“It’s one thing that evokes my childhood, when my mother would at all times make chocolate cake for my two sisters and [me],” Paprocki mentioned. “It is a plate of favorites.”
Mo Lounge’s present Afternoon Tea menu, which was launched in January, comes at a time when the consumption of tea is on the rise within the U.S., particularly amongst youthful generations corresponding to Millenials, in response to the Tea Affiliation of the U.S. On the similar time, a 2025 Gallup ballot has proven that solely 54% of American adults drink alcohol, which is a record-low since 1939.
Tea has been cited as essentially the most consumed beverage on the planet behind water, in response to the affiliation, however is usually thought of much less in style than espresso within the U.S. Nevertheless, a research completed by Toast POS in 2024 claims that tea is extra in style than espresso in 31 states, particularly in Southern states. In 2022, the U.S. imported $508 million value of tea, which is roughly $350 million greater than in 1992, in response to Census Bureau knowledge.
A research from the Nationwide Library of Medication reveals that ingesting tea additionally has a spread of well being advantages, corresponding to boosting metabolism and strengthening the immune system.
The tea menu at Mo Lounge will quickly be altering for the spring season, as Paprocki appears to be like ahead to creating extra dishes incorporating seasonal fruits because the climate begins to heat.
Afternoon Tea on the Mo Lounge is priced at $135 per particular person, with vegan and youngsters’s menus additionally out there. Reservations might be made on-line at MO Lounge: Central Park Eating | Mandarin Oriental, New York.
