Here’s a secret hiding behind the flat whites and the lunch menu.

Pull up a chair at two cafes on the Barrington Coast and you can be handed tiered stands of pretty little cakes, pastries, scones and finger sandwiches, with tea poured from a proper pot into proper china.

High tea here is a planning-something-special kind of treat, so every sitting must be booked ahead… and that’s half the pleasure. Grab a friend, pick a date and give yourself something to look forward to.

Cafe Toscano in Forster is where you go when you want a tea party like a Bridgerton set. Step inside and the ceiling disappears under a riot of hanging flowers and greenery, with more blooms in tableside planters and bunches of faux grapes piled into vases, like a gloriously over-the-top cafe somewhere in provincial Tuscany.

Here’s the other secret. At Café Toscano the petit fours aren’t petite. Think full-sized tartlets, gorgeously decorated cupcakes and scones, enough to make the word “petit” blush. It’s a generous, colourful, giggle-out-loud kind of morning or afternoon, perfect for a first-time high tea party with the girls (BYO tiara).

High tea at Café Toscano runs every day from 10am at $50pp but must be pre-boked. And while it’s so new it’s not yet listed on their website, you’ll be glad you rang ahead and asked.

Inland at Wingham, Kaye’s Kitchen takes the opposite path and does it beautifully, in a relaxed contemporary cafe in a heritage building with a lovely covered alfresco area.

Kaye elevates every high tea sitting with exquisite chinaware and table linen plus fine details such as fresh flowers on your napkins. Her petit fours are tiny masterpieces, the work of someone who clearly loves her craft. And her high tea customers highly approve.

Traditional high tea at Kaye’s Kitchen is $54.90pp with sweet and savoury pastries, petit four delights, finger sandwiches and freshly baked scones with house-made strawberry jam and chantilly cream, plus your choice of tea or coffee. The mocktail version is $64.90, there’s a loose-leaf list that runs from Earl Grey to lemongrass and ginger, and a children’s high tea at $24.90 gives ages 5 to 12 a stand of their own… if you’re treating your grandkids to something a little more refined.

Kaye’s Kitchen serves high tea Monday to Friday, needs at least 24 hours’ notice and a minimum of two people. Sittings run for up to 90 minutes with dietary needs catered for when you let them know. The menu follows the seasons, so no two visits are quite the same.

Both cafes are licensed, so you can mark the occasion the traditional way, with bubbles, clinking glasses and a good gossip.

Midweek is when both these cafes are at their calmest, which makes high tea a lovely excuse for a girls-only catch-up, a mother and daughter afternoon, or a rainy Tuesday in whatever month for whatever reason.

So next time someone says let’s pop out for a coffee soon, let them know there’s a fancy tiered stand that could be waiting for you both.