The “City by the Bay” boasts scores of richly ornamented Victorian homes in candy colors, an orange bridge and a sparkling-blue bay, steep hills, palm trees and tropical flowers juxtaposed with coolish weather, world-class museums, and restaurants and views galore. Tearooms here can be traditional or quirky (sometimes both), British, Parisian, or Asian in inspiration, and found in historic hotels or contemporary spaces.
Fairmont San Francisco
950 Mason Street • San Francisco, CA 94108
415-772-5000 • fairmont.com
Crowning the neighborhood of Nob Hill, with its glorious panorama of the blue bay on all sides, the Fairmont has been one of San Francisco’s top luxury hotels since it opened in 1907. A statue of Tony Bennett stands in front because the late singer first performed “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at the hotel in 1961. In the back of its glamorous Old World–style lobby and behind 32 faux marble columns, afternoon tea is served on Saturdays in Laurel Court restaurant, beneath a three-domed ceiling and amid murals of California trees and chairs in celadon.
In the Christmas season, the Fairmont is one of themost enchanting places to experience in San Francisco. A 22-foot-tall gingerbread house—crafted from thousands of gingerbread “bricks” cemented by icing and decorated with almost 2,000 pounds of candy from chocolates to candy canes—is displayed from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, right in front of Laurel Court. The fairy tale–like creation even has a living room whose faux fireplace has a wreath above the mantel. A little train traverses a snowy landscape behind a white picket fence outside the house. Incredibly, a group of up to eight can book tea or a meal inside the house (for a hefty fee).
Afternoon tea offers 11 loose-leaf teas, created exclu-sively for Fairmont by the Metropolitan Tea Company, served in gold-rimmed white china. The heady almond aroma of Winter Palace Marzipan Rooibos arises from almonds from Morocco, which boost the marzipan flavor, while Frosty Plum Spice contains
