The Scarlet Tea Room

Hi All~

It's been busy, busy here! I just got back into town last night after spending a wonderful weekend with my best friend. We somehow managed to simultaneously do lots of fun things, yet have an unhurried, mellow weekend, it really was the best of both worlds. One of the highlights was my friend treating me to an afternoon tea at an elegant tea room in downtown Pasadena, The Scarlet Tea Room.

You already know how much I love to take tea, this was such a treat! We had a long afternoon of tea and much needed talk. Of course like a goober, I took pictures of everything... what. I had to share with you guys, right?

It all starts with a pretty cup.

We chose the 5 Course Afternoon Tea, it was wonderful and started with a delightful strawberry sorbet, which was so refreshing!

Oh, how I love a tiered tray!

Delectable tea sandwiches. Each one was unique and equally scrumptious. The Scarlet Tea Room offers more sandwich choices than I've ever seen at one tea shop. The scones were wonderfully fresh and soft too (but I didn't get a decent picture of them, drats!)

 Pretty deserts, cake & petit fours.

 Tea ~ magic.

 Fresh Berry Romonoff, ooooh baby. Let me tell you that this was one of the most delicious things ever to cross these lips.

Look at that sassy business card! I love it.

Here's a quick shot I managed of another part of the dining room. The Scarlet Tea Room was great, elegant, but not stuffy. It was comfortable and welcoming, a great place to wile away the afternoon.

Oh, and check out this bling! This gorgeous chandelier was hanging in the main dining room. I love the small touches of scarlet red though out the dining rooms, just enough to make a statement without being too much, scarlet is a power color after all. I have to say, this picture doesn't do the chandelier justice, it was so pretty and sparkling!

Taking tea at a pretty tea room is (to me) one of life's great joys. Seriously. If only every day could be filled with such splendor... oh my!

I have more tea related things coming your way this week, so stay tuned!

oxo,

Lisa



Christmas Tea At The Crown & Cumpet

Ho, ho ho y'all!

Jill and I snuck off to San Francisco yesterday. Ah, the city at Christmas... I love San Francisco always, but at Christmas, I think I love it even more, if that's possible. Everything was merry & bright and we had a grand ol time first at the Ferry Building, then wandering at Ghiradelli Square, then taking tea at The Crown & Crumpet, and afterwards, meandering around SF enjoying the scenery. It was a great day, I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

The Crown & Crumpet is starting to feel like our little hiding place in SF, this was our third trip to the C&C, but our first at Christmas and to our delight the C&C was dressed for a party and full of holiday merriment. It is really such a special place, we love, love, love it.

A holiday tea! Those words alone make me all kinds of happy.

Look at all these sweets!

And these sweets, too.

This fabulous red Christmas tree grabs your attention as soon as you walk into the Crown & Crumpet.

A cheery fireplace mantle. Love those fabulous, pink feather trees!

The tea, service and food were as fabulous as always. That's one thing about the Crown & Crumpet that I especially love, the consistency of the product. Each time we've been there, we feel like "friends" of the shop, like they've been waiting for us to arrive. It's awesome, and not stuffy. Such a joy!

Of course no trip is complete without a memento, or three. I bought this happy, little soldier at the Crown & Crumpet's gift shop, so sweet.

He went straight onto the tree in our family room.

And my happiest purchase of the day, this lovely little broach! I've loved the work of the maker, Lorie Marie for some time and she has a terrific blog which I follow (it's over there on my side bar too, have a look!) as well. I knew that she sells some of her wares at the Crown & Crumpets gift shop, and I was excited to see them in person. When I did, I HAD to have one of these pins. It's everything I love, felt, happy colors, flowers, stitching, in a word; perfect. I really wanted one of these, but it's just not in the budget at the mo... maybe for my birthday.   

Oh, and then there's this! Couldn't leave Ghiradelli Square at Christmas without some, it's my favorite.

I know I've said it before, but you can be sure I'll say it again, if you're a tea fan, and ever you're in San Francisco, you must find the time to have tea at the Crown & Crumpet, you will love it. I promise.

I know this has already been a picture heavy post, but I'm really enjoying and learning to use my new camera, so I hope you'll forgive my photo indulgence a little more. Here are a few snaps that I think are pretty from the Ferry Building...

Just inside the Ferry Building.

Rose & geranium French macaroons, tasted as pretty as they looked. Miette.

Beautiful shrooms, Far West Fungi.

Gifts from the hive, Bee Kind.

All sorts of wondrous fromage (hot guy not included), Cowgirl Creamery.

Mine! Mine! Mine! This guy crept up on me, good thing Jill was watching.

So that about wraps it up, I hope you've enjoyed another trip to my favorite city by the bay!

More Christmas goodness coming soon, stay tuned!

oxo,

Lisa



Lisa & Jill's Big Day In The City Part II (finally!!)

Hello Beautiful!

Ok, I've been wanting to share this since the day Jill and I got back from the Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, but it seems like one thing or another has been preventing me from sharing all the yummy, tea fueled goodness that Jill and I got to share. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let them do the talkin' and only interrupt when I can't help myself.

Have you heard of The Crown & Crumpet? It was featured in the July/August 2010 issue of Tea Time Magazine, but I've known about it for a long, long time and have been dying to go! The C&C  is located in San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square, which was incidentally was just a few blocks from Ft. Mason where Renegade was held. We got in with just a few minutes reservation, which was lucky!

This was the view from our table...

What lucky little ladies to celebrate a birthday at the Crown & Crumpet! These tiny beauties were all dressed in fancy tea dresses, adorable!

This is deceiving... they give you a lot of food... you'll see...

Real silverware. I love the old soft glow of real silver. I do believe I'll have a new collection starting soon, it's so beautiful.

For our tea selection, Jill and I decided on The Marie Antoinette and After Seven Fifty-Nine

Both were delicious.

A cute tea shop makes for a very, very happy Lisa.

We had the Tea For Two...

The tea sandwiches were tea-riffic! Roast beef, chicken pesto, egg salad, cucumber, ham & cheese, and marinated red pepper. Can you say scarf?

The Crumpets! Oh Lordy, the crumpets! And the scones, good heavens, the scones! Can you believe I'd never had a crumpet before? It's true. I'm afraid these will be my downfall some day...

Desert!! No explanation needed. Every. Crumb. Gone.

After stuffing ourselves, we had a nice look around and got quite snap happy!

This is why you need a reservation. This tea shoppe stays packed most all of the time, they can rarely accommodate walk-ins.

The C&C also has a small gift shop packed to the gills with cuteness.

Hey look, it's Marie herself!

Of course I got a couple of small goodies for myself...

This is the same tea we had at the shop. It's quite good. A little pricey though... $16 for 2oz. The tea mug is very like one that I saw on Happy Zombie a while back and have been absolutely in love with ever since. I have too many mugs. It's sort of sick. But I couldn't help it, this one is so pretty and delicate, and it's china. It's my new favorite.

After our visit to the Crown & Crumpet, Jill and I strolled around Ghiradhelli and did some window shoppin. Then we took a walk down to the beach and watched the sun set, all the while chatting it up like we've known each other forever. Isn't it awesome when you meet someone like that? Kindred spirits... love it.

We headed home after a long day, and I slept like a log. It was a wonderful day filled with some of my most favorite things and people! The day couldn't have been more perfect.

Thanks for being so patient in waiting for this post, I hope you enjoyed the pictures. They truly don't do justice to the place. If you're ever in San Francisco, the Crown & Crumpet is high on my list of recommendations. In fact, it's shot its self straight to the top of my list of favorite tea rooms. Really.

Hope you're all well! I'm off now to catch up on some of your blogs!

oxo,

Lisa