But on Easter weekend, the train car-inspired lounge is journeying into daylight hours with its High Tea Aboard the Pullman event. Attendees, or passengers, will be able to taste a lineup of petite sandwiches and sweet treats to accompany elegant cups of tea.
The concept was born during a London trip that Mat Snapp, who runs operations for hospitality company Barter & Shake, took with his wife in 2023. Barter & Shake is responsible for Platform 18 and its sister concepts, Undertow, Grey Hen Rx and Sunny’s Lounge.
“We had high tea and it was elegant and opulent,” Snapp recalls. “To take an hour and a half during the day to have light bites, tea and good conversation is a great time.”
Train car-inspired cocktail bar Platform 18 will serve its High Tea Aboard the Pullman event on Easter weekend.
Barter & Shake
High Tea on the train
The High Tea event will take place on April 19 and 20, with 90-minute experiences starting at 10:30 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. on both days. Standard tickets are $99 and include welcome champagne, tea and three courses of small savory and sweet bites. An upgraded $129 Royal Tea Ticket adds on a second glass of bubbly and boozy chocolate truffles as a take-home memento. A choice of soda or a non-alcoholic cocktail may be substituted for the champagne.
The event starts with a choice of four teas by Passport Coffee & Tea’s boutique label, Forster & Burnett. The full-strength options are sencha green tea with jasmine and honey pearl and long-leaf black tea with cardamom and blue cornflower. Decaf selections include whole-flower camomile and Washington State peppermint herbal tea.
The three-course menu begins with a blueberry lemon scone and cinnamon chip biscotti duo. It will be followed by a savory course of smoked salmon with capers, Persian cucumber and dill, duck liver pate and pickled grapes on rye and prosciutto and French onion on pumpernickel.
The final sweet selection will feature an Earl Grey buttercream macaron, bite-sized tiramisu, cinnamon spice Mexican wedding cookie and a key lime bar with a spiced white chocolate drizzle.
Local pastry chef Jazmin Gentry will churn out the scones and sweets. The savory bites will be done by the gourmet catering company Conceptually Social.
Rather than the typical dark uniform colors, servers will don lighter spring shades in their vests and ties while a jazzy playlist adds to the ambiance.
Showing off a different side
Snapp knows that an afternoon tea may appear out-of-character for the bar. But that wasn’t an obstacle to bringing the vision to life.“Just because it’s a different side of the coin that what we do was not a reason not to do it,” Snapp says.
It also would not be the first time Platform 18 opened its doors during the day.
Last winter, the venue hosted a family-friendly Cookies & Cocoa series. While kids had their cocoa straight, adults sipped on a spiked version. All enjoyed cookies and a ride through the snowy Rocky Mountain scenery.
The popular event proved that an event in daylight hours would succeed, if done right.
“What we learned from Cookies & Cocoa was that regulars and fans would love to let us introduce their whole families and all ages to this fun place that mom and dad sometimes go on date night,” Snapp says.
Snapp expects High Tea will be a success, and plans to host another on Mother’s Day weekend, May 10 and 11.
“We want to introduce another possibility of the space to some people that haven't been before or been in a while,” Snapp says. “We’ve assembled a really nice best-of-the-best guest experience where everything shines.”
