Tea Treasures of Portland

Tea Treasures of Portland

Headwaters at The Heathman
1001 SW Broadway
503-790-7752 • headwaterspdx.com

At Headwaters, Chef Vitaly Paley, whose family emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1977, and Pastry Chef Megan Jeans collaborate on an afternoon-tea menu inspired by recipes from Chef Paley’s grandmother. Samovars, matroyshka dolls, and other iconic decorative objects set the mood for the hearty fare presented on tiered stands. Afternoon tea starts with buterbrodi (rye-bread canapés with toppings such as garlic cheese, smoked salmon with herring schmear, or garlic sausage with house pickles) and khachapuri (a Georgian cheese bread drizzled with local honey), accompanied by seemingly bottomless pots of Smith Teamaker loose-leaf teas, including the exclusive custom black-tea blend, Georgian Caravan (a riff on Russian Caravan), which is traditionally sweetened with jam. More savories, like sumac-crowned stuffed eggs, steel-head caviar–topped blini, eggplant rolls with walnut filling, and mushroom piroshki, follow.

Tea Treasures of Portland
Photograph courtesy of Carly Diaz.

An array of classic Eastern European sweet treats is next—typically, steopka (Chef Paley’s grandmother’s sour cream and walnut cake), zapekanka (a Russian cheesecake), medovik tort (a honey cake with many thin layers), lemon zest halva (a sesame candy), tort po kievski (a hazelnut meringue with coffee butter-cream and chocolate ganache), and rulet s makom (a Ukrainian poppyseed roll). Reservations are required for this Russian tea experience, served at four seatings each Saturday and Sunday. From Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day, however, demand for afternoon tea is so great that service is offered for five seatings daily.