INDIA
Margaret’s Hope, Goodricke Group’s famous Darjeeling tea garden now has a spectacular tea lounge. Margaret’s Deck sits high up on stilts above the tea fields and affords visitors breathtaking views of the mountain landscape, where swooping tea fields, and gushing streams are set against a backdrop of soaring peaks in the distance.
Designed by Delhi-based architect and retail designer Arvinder Singh, the 30-seat tea lounge has predominantly glass walls, to give an impression of being seated outdoors, while also offering protection from inclement weather; furniture is of the sort that might be found on a deck in a typical English setting, and the décor cleverly incorporates some unusual, eye-catching tea features – flasks like glass light bulbs suspended from the ceiling that contain tea liquors which gleam with their different shades of amber; a cascade of teapots suspended one above the other so that a stream of water tumbles down through each one to be poured eventually into a cup at the bottom.
The tea menu offers a variety of teas made at Goodricke’s Estates, and visitors can feast on main courses of grilled fish and savory flans and quiches, or sweet treats such as scones, brownies, soufflés, and trifles. The deck was inaugurated last year by Malcolm Perkins, group chairman of Camellia Plc in the presence of A.N. Singh, managing director; Goodricke Group Ltd. Perkins said, “We are excited to launch Margaret’s Deck in Kurseong today at one of our premium tea estates and we hope to provide an unforgettable experience to our patrons.”