A PureLeaf and Butter Afternoon Equals A Match Made in Heaven

As an avid Gossip Girl fan, I’d heard of Butter not only through my tattered Zagat and countless friends but also from the episode regarding Lil J and a big party scheme. This combined with the news surrounding the head chef, Alex Guarnaschelli, had me very excited. For those of you who don’t know Alex has been featured on Iron Chef, Chopped, and her own show, Alex’s Day Off. In addition, she is an accomplished female chef who has made her mark at Michelin quality restaurants. That in itself is quite a feat and I only hoped that we’d have an opportunity to not only learn about Lipton’s wonderful teas but also Alex. I knew Lipton was dedicated to education and spreading the knowledge of tea from Kath’s journey last year with Lipton. 


Saturday’s event started at 11:30 when a black car picked me up from the apartment. This was such a treat and I thoroughly enjoyed being chauffeured into the city rather than taking the subway. I enjoyed the sites as we crossed over the bridge and ventured downtown towards Butter. Once I arrived the Lipton and Ogilvy folks ensured that I had a name tag and found the bar. The bar was setup with a special drink menu featuring the Lipton PureLeaf teas. I was excited when I found out that they didn’t all feature alcohol. I knew that I needed to avoid alcohol due to Sunday’s race. I quickly chose the Blackberry Spritzer which featured blackberry puree, sparkling cider, and PureLeaf Raspberry tea. 


Holy yum! This was delicious especially since I was able to enjoy it with fellow bloggers. I was excited to catch up with Megan, Melissa, and Diana all of whom i’d met previously at the David Burke FoodBuzz dinner, blogger brunches, and other events. 

After we were all seated we had the opportunity to hear from Gilbert Kendzior. Gilbert is a hilarious older British man with a nack for tea. As Lipton’s Master Tea Blender he was able to explain the different types of tea, how he chooses tea, and more. Some of the information was difficult to hear due to the space’s acoustics but for the most part we all learned a great deal. He also discussed Unilever and Lipton’s commitment to sustainability. They have put many “green” practices into place over the past few years and have gone so far to educate, care for, and house those people who work on their farms! While he finished his discussion, we were able to sample the teas. They were better than I was expecting! Due to the fact that it isn’t sweetened with Splenda but instead the natural alternative, stevia, there was no artificial aftertaste and the tea is very refreshing. I prefer the lemon as it isn’t quite as sweet as the raspberry. Both were delicious served over ice. 

As we finished our last sips, the service began! We were all elated and were anxious to see what Butter would serve. 


First Course: Delicious biscuits with two types of butter (traditional and chive) both of which are made in house. The biscuit was perfectly moist and crumbled in my mouth ever so slightly. I told myself that I would only eat half of each thing served so that I would make it through the meal and Sunday’s race. 


Amuse-Bouche: A deliciously green arugala-leek soup topped with toast and truffle butter. Unfortunately my toast fell into the soup which meant it was laden with truffle butter flavor. But, I loved the base and would like to try this at home. It seems like the perfect summer soup and was exploding with fresh leek flavors.

Second Amuse Bouche: Crispy Florida shrimp paired with a pickled vegetable salad.  The shrimp was delicious but the sauce had a bit too much horseradish for my taste.

First Course (can you believe it?!): Roasted squash caponata with celery root, mache, and a lemon tea dressing. This was one of my absolute favorites and made me want to pick up mache at the grocery store that night. The flavors were light but intricate as Alex experimented with celery root and mache to create an untraditional salad. This was the one course that I ate 100%.

Second Course: Lots of wows, oohs, and aahs were released when the chef and kitchen staff surprised us with a HUGE striped bass. This striped bass, after being paraded around the table by the sous chefs, was cut into small portions and served with brussel sprouts, roasted heirloom potatoes and a tea buerre blanc. The combination was perfect and the fish could not have been prepared any better. Alex admitted that she was a bit apprehensive preparing such a large fish for the event but she delivered it flawlessly!


Our final course, was of course dessert. But, Alex put a twist on it by serving a Coffee and Tea dessert. This was coffee ice cream, struesel, lemon tea caramel, coffee granita and tea-soaked golden raisins. This was not my favorite as I don’t care for coffee flavored ice cream and this was more like ESPRESSO! It was very intense. But, the surprise dessert was a huge winner. After the coffee and tea, we were presented with delectable petits fours. The white chocolate with lemon tea and toasted almond praline was absolutely divine. I have a huge soft spot for white chocolate and this was some of the best white chocalte i’ve ever tasted. I normally do not care for fruit and chocolate pairings but the praline and lemon matched perfectly. I did not try the dark chocolate with citrus as I was too full and my taste buds were spent!

Photo courtesy of Diana at Soap & Chocolate

Disclaimer: Ogilvy Public Relations extended an invitation to the PureLeaf 0 Calorie event on behalf of their client Lipton. I was not provided monetary compensation nor was I required to post about the event or product upon accepting the invitation. These opinions are my own.