Thank you to Kathy Chin Leong for this great October article.
The opera singer was resplendent, dressed in a red jumpsuit, crooning in Italian while the harpist accompanied her with fingers flying. Across the dining room, my daughter Gwen and I sipped our creamy Earl Gray and Reserve Madame Butterfly jasmine green tea nonchalantly, as if this is something we do every day. But we don’t. This was a special mom-adult daughter outing to reconnect and catch up. Why wait until Christmas to indulge in a festive afternoon tea?
We recently arrived to sample the Fairmont San Francisco’s newest tea adventure, the Spirited Afternoon Tea, available until November 2. Costumes are encouraged but not required. With a nod to its name, you can indulge in an optional Spirited Sour cocktail, made at your table, where you can mix and match tea with liquor. Choose from whiskey, gin, vodka, or tequila, a citrus fruit, and your choice of garnish.
Tea fans will appreciate the ambiance of Laurel Court, the domed lobby restaurant adorned with chandeliers and softly hued, nature-themed murals. During this autumn season, the team has decked out the restaurant with centerpieces of pumpkins, gourds, and corn husks, amid leafy orange branches.
Weekend seatings, twice a day, showcase traditional tiered tea fare, but with ingredients that harken to the multi-cultural and historical roots of San Francisco. For starters, among the savory bites was our favorite, the Dungenous crab tart with crème fraiche and preserved lemon. It was such a reminder of our tourist days at Fisherman’s Wharf, where we bought cups of fresh crab, sprinkled with fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Scones arrived with lemon curd, clotted cream, and fig jam, perfect for the season where, for a brief stint, figs are abundant in the Bay Area.
Unique here was the vanilla calamansi cheesecake. What is calamansi? It is a sweet and sour citrus fruit, extremely popular in the Philippines. This ingredient is making its way here in Northern California in drinks, ice creams, and now, desserts. The Fairmont pastry chef should be lauded for the airy texture and tart/sweet balance of this cheesecake, which reaches the tongue as a delicate mousse on a sliver of crust. Equally delish was the pair of macadamia nut tarts – one topped with a candied purple witches’ hat, and the other with a smiling candy ghost. The macadamia flavor was buttery, bold, and complemented the strings of chocolate icing.
Other treats touring the Halloween color palette included the orange and purple sandwich bread, white and black candy eyes atop the orange chocolate cupcakes, and the purple macaron. While all these bites appear small, the richness of the carbs made us full in a hurry; we had to ask for boxes to take half our treasures home.
In keeping with the Fairmont hotels we all know and love, service was excellent and attentive. Our waiter cheerfully set individual sand timers in motion so our different brews were steeped to perfection.
If you are looking to celebrate with your loved one this fall, consider the Spirited Tea in San Francisco, the boo-tiful city by the bay.
- For more information or to make your reservations visit the Fairmont San Francisco’s Spirited Afternoon Tea
