Symposium’s private Tea Ritual at the St.Regis, Florence
“Yet a single scent, already breathed long ago, may once again, both in the present and the past, be real without being present […] and our true self, which may have seemed to be long dead, but never was entirely, is re-awoken.”
― Marcel Proust, Time Regained
After all, it only took a sip of tea to make Marcel Proust gasp, leaving him 'drawn to something extraordinary happening' inside him; one sip was enough to distract him from the gloomy day and evoke sweet, sedimented memories, latent, never really forgotten…
For Elena Matei, Tea Sommelier at the St. Regis Florence, it was the scent of linden trees; blooming linden trees that dot the streets of Florence in May, evoking vivid memories of the great tree in her grandmother's garden in Transylvania; Elena remembers following her in the garden and in the woods, gathering herbs, flowers and plants for her blends.
Memories deeply rooted in a reassuring past,
towards what is now her current title of Tea Sommelier at one of the
most prestigious Grand Hotels in Italy.
A rare and fascinating role which requires refined senses as fundamental tools of the trade; an exceptional mastery and rare knowledge born from small daily rituals, and developed over a lifetime of experience, which the General Manager of The St. Regis Florence, Domenico Colella, has welcomed and encouraged with spirit of contemporary patronage.
For the private breakfast hosted for Symposium guests, Elena welcomed us with her sweetest smile framed by long blonde braids, gathered and adorned with butterfly pins; she prepared a sensory journey of nine curated blends accompanied by all sorts of sweet delights.
Elena Matei meticulously designs her tea blends, from investigating the beneficial effects of the individual ingredients, to choosing the best combinations, until drying and finally organising the sequence in which they should be tasted. For the occasion, the nine blends were created especially for the Symposium guests, who had the opportunity to smell their aroma, admire their natural shapes and colours, before seeing them slowly transformed into exquisite infusions.
Indulging the palate…
The guests were served tea in a precious Richard Ginori tea set, accompanied by a feast of sweet and savoury delicacies, specially created for the occasion by the pastry chef of the St. Regis, Florence. The bowl of whipped cream, to be mixed with jam and enjoyed on freshly baked scones, was one of the most appreciated treats.
Elena Matei is featured in ‘Crafting Excellence’
Chapter XXIII of the coffee table book ‘Crafting Excellence, Florence’ investigates the value of Reminiscence as one of the pillars of Excellence: as the invocation of sweet familiar notes and memories re-emerging in the present.
Elena Matei's rare talent is the best representative of this profound value: an extraordinary example of how reality acquires meaning when we add the essential: a meaning, an expectation, a memory, a vision. A prodigious, almost mystical evocative force that gives certain tangible artefacts the role of messengers and access keys to non-places that have very little that is tangible. Thus a mysterious glimpse into the human soul is revealed, in its complexity.
Immortal buds,
petals and stems -
- yet crystallised in the moment of their fall, with masterly botanical accuracy. Some petals are gone, others faded or yellowed, slightly wrinkled, the stems seem bent by gravity and time.
The extraordinary paper flowers, handmade by the Belgian artisan, Venice based, Juliana Donà delle Rose, were placed next to the precious Ginori tea china to beautifully decorate the table for the occasion.
At first glance, they appear to be works of art made by nature, not by human hands... yet they are the result of slow and repeated gentle, yet firm gestures of a young and brilliant craftswoman.
“Yet a single scent, already breathed long ago, may once again, both in the present and the past, be real without being present […] and our true self, which may have seemed to be long dead, but never was entirely, is re-awoken.”
― Marcel Proust, Time Regained
