Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Tea, Anyone?

Look at this cute tea house, Crown & Crumpet.





Crown & Crumpet has pink and white floors, tables covered with chintz and little crowns on the tea cups. Located in San Francisco's historic Ghirardelli Square, it's the tea room equivalent of marzipan...

Like bookstores, I keep a list of favorite tea houses:

There's the Tea Palace in Notting Hill

The Rose Garden Tea House & Cafe at the Huntington Gardens in San Marino

Paris has Mariage Freres

In Rome, there's Babingtons


Any others??!

53 comments:

Melina said...

This is so adorable! I just did a post on an adorable bakery in upstate new york!

teatoastblog.blogspot.com

Sandy said...

i wish there was a teahouse in kansas city, but unfortunately, i don't think there is.. at least not anything as cute as this! love the crown on the teacup!!

Kelly said...

That pink crown teacup is adorable!

Daydream Lily said...

just wonderful!! you've inspired me to go find a nice tea house in Melbourne.

Fifi Flowers said...

Oooh looks like a FUN place!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh no! How did I not find this lovely gem last time I was in San Fran!? Certainly going on list for next visit.

I have a suggestion for tea in Australia: there's "Queenies" for High Tea in Brisbane, Australia. It's lovely. They play Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday - and they serve a selection of delicious teas with towers of cakes and ribbon sandwiches - it's always my rare treat after a hard day at university.

A Bowl Of Mush said...

I squealed when I saw this!!

Oh my goodness I want to go there and play tea parties! :)

Gwen Driscoll said...

Precious. Wish I was close enough to go.

kelly ann said...

i was just looking at their website a couple of months ago - this place is just adorable! i would really, really love to go someday!

Caroline said...

Oh my I will have to go here!!! Thanks for posting this! xo

Anonymous said...

Oh how delightful!

Now to find something closer to me...lets start with the same country, lol

marthalena said...

Oh, Tina, will you be my bff??? PLEASE???? You do everything I want to do! I've wanted to check this place out since it opened.

OK, my nominees are:

Angelina in Paris (more for hot chocolate really, but you can buy delightful little tea cups there and if it's good enough for Coco Chanel...)

The Empress in Victoria, B.C...

The Halekulani in Honolulu...

Rosa said...

Thats what I'd call a proper tea party experience. The colours, the teacups the environment. Its so adorable.

Molly Betsy @ Star Cottage said...

Pure Loveliness
Now I have to find one near me.;)

Ziad Ali said...

ahh i want those scones! sorry, im a scone addict! this is the sweetest tea house ever, i must say.
Pearl xo

Unknown said...

what a lovely tea house! i so want go to here!1

jessie.mae said...

yummm. I love tea houses. It was the only traditional british food that I liked when I studied abroad a few summers ago (I got by on lots of italian and chinese!). Cambridge, England has a wonderful tea house called "Auntie Tea's", it's on a street corner on the edge of the main open air market. So darling. They had a great deal on tea, scones, and sandwiches for like 7 pounds I think. That was cheap for England!

Hausfrau said...

Syrupy-sweet and adorable! For something more understated/Asian, I like Teaism in Washington, D.C.

Daisy said...

How very pretty and perfect !

The Simply Luxurious Life said...

Tea houses are the one thing I would certainly love, but have never really sought out. This place looks adorable and thank you for the list of your favorites.

Sarah said...

I really need to move. Beautiful!

Tonia said...

Do you think they'd mind if I moved in?
You haven't lived until you've had a white chocolate and raspberry brownie at our local teashop...

Laura Trevey said...

I would visit here every day! Love it!!

xoxo Laura

polkadotty said...

This is lovely! I will have to go and investigate all tea shops near me now to satisfy my craving!

Ta said...

Back home in Staunton Va there is a tea shop called Darjeeling Cafe.
http://darjeelingcafe.com/
They always have super tea and the owner has started doing some wonderful dinners.
Also Alice's Tea Cup in NY. Wonderful scones.

Giulia said...

Babington's is nice but when in Rome, I tend not to do the English thing (unless weeping at Keats's grave, ahem). That said, Caffè Novecento is nice place for some tea as well. In DC, there are lots of places, like the Hay-Adams. I tend to hide, though. If you come back to DC, I would gladly go to big public place. Teaism can be fun; the one near the White House is less crowded late in day rather than the jostling at Dupont Circle. (It's also 'round the corner from the 'new' farmer's market...I can't wait for it to be open again. Because that would mean winter is over. As in I'm going to buy batteries & supplies AGAIN today as snow, ice, & worse - high winds - are called for as of tonight. If we lose power again...) OK, that makes me want to make pot of tea.

The photographs are lovely, Tina...it does look like the inside of a candy or jewel box.

baci

Susan & GG

plantingalongtheverge.com said...

If you're ever in my neck of the woods you must try the Tea Cozy.
http://www.teacozy.com/

Cathi said...

That looks like a wonderful tea house...would love to stop by someday! :)

Polly Rowan said...

Wowee! I wish I lived near SF right now. SOOOO cute! Love all the florals and bright colours xx

vicki said...

What an amazing place for tea. It's gorgeous. I also like Cafe Lalo in NYC.

Unknown said...

oh my! I'd love to go there and sip some tea!

carolina @ patagonia gifts said...

oh yes please! would love to!

isabelle said...

Love the glass cloche. They are so romantic and versatile. Great blog!

mademoiselle isabelle
http://isabellepilon.blogspot.com

LenoreNeverM♡re said...

I had the feeling, this place is one of your stops~ so girlie fabulous!
I'm thinking of ice tea cos it's hot & humid where I am... "more ice pleasssse..."

xo

kate said...

I adore this place! Love San Francisco... and Paris!

Like a Cat said...

this looks like a girly girl's heaven!

there are a few alice's tea cup(s) in nyc. they're petty adorable, too.

Shell said...

I have to add Lady Mendl's Tea Salon in NYC..down near Union Square..very beautiful place..

Julia-Megumi said...

Wow, this place is definitely going on my 'list of places to visit' next time I'm in California. Gorgeous decor! Thanks for the pictures.

Lillian C said...

I LOVE afternoon tea!! There aren't that many in So Cal...but I'm currently in Taiwan right now, and they're EVERYWHERE! I love them :)
I love the tiers of cakes and sandwiches, the delicious teas to sip on, and of couse, great company with great conversation...
I should open one back home :)

TheBeautyFile said...

OH I wish I had known about this when I was in San Fran!! I hope you're having a wonderful time there...

Teach.Workout.Love said...

love these :) :)

Pia K said...

it looks divine!

some of my favourites (and very different they are) are

- Sturekatten, in Stockholm
- Ester's, in Stockholm
- Mount Nelson Hotel, in Cape Town (the best afternoon tea ever!)
- Reid's Hotel, in Funchal
- Little Betty's, in York
- Café Jozef K, in Sopot (dreamy)

word verification - mughthe. how appropriate:)

bunny, The Paris House Designs said...

I could go there everyday, so adorable! I love the tearooms in Bahrain, Middle East. The Orangery in London, The Ritz in Bahrain, Laduree, The Madhatter tearoom in the Cotswolds, Coco Luxe in NJ, and tea at Sweetiepies in Manhattan.

Emily said...

wow, that looks like such a lovely place to have afternoon tea!! i live in england, and so we aren't short of tearooms, but they're rarely as quickly as that one! we do have a little cafe on my university campus called Curiositea however, which i've yet to visit but it definately looks like some place i would frequent!

deniz said...

how lovely... now I have a reason to go to SF.

julie @ duet letterpress said...

so, so cute!!

SSV said...

almost threw a bridal shower tea party at this one, but ended up holding in washington dc (the mayflower hotel has a fun/fancy afternoon tea). some other lovely ones in SF are lovejoy's tea room (noe valley) and samovar tea lounge (soma, in yerba buena).

Cassandra Dias said...

Aww I would love to go to a tea party!

alinitaxula said...

Adore the tea party time¡¡¡¡¡

vert cerise said...

The tea palace in Notting Hill is now closed. They are now in Covent Garden.

For Paris, my favorite tea houses are Mariage (of course), Ladurée, Angelina and L'A priori thé (galerie Vivienne, so beautiful), l'Heure gourmande (passage Dauphine, 6e).

Megan and Kristin said...

Makes me want high tea right NOW!

Jen said...

I just LOVE the teacups!

Anzu said...

I haven't left a comment before but am a regular reader of your blog - it's always interesting.
I have afternoon tea too much.
Sadly tea palace doesn't exist anymore. I live in London and love Claridges for a grand style old tea, Berkeley for the fun fashion afternoon tea, Browns for old world Miss Marple style tea (Agatha Christie used to write in the tea room) and Miller Harris (the perfumier but she also does a range of perfumed teas that you can enjoy in a cute section of her shop).