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Tea Time in San Francisco
by Karen Solomon
Coffee and coffee shops are king in San Francisco, as you can't turn a corner without encountering a double decaf latte opportunity. Nary a bus stop during commuter hours is without its share of cups and lids holding the essential fluids of the dark, roasted master.
However, nothing breaks up the monotony like the royalty and simplicity of a well-steeped cup of tea.
Tea is to be savored and enjoyed in the afternoon. Taking afternoon or late morning tea is about leisure and lounging. It's a symbol of freedom and excess, a mini, liquid vacation for locals and visitors alike.
When drunk by the pot with milk, honey, and crustless sandwiches, or just steeped to perfection and drunk plain, a cup of tea always hits the spot.
There's a few different way to do tea in the City.
In the Lobby Lounge of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, visitors are reminded of what it means to "put on the Ritz". Their daily English-style high tea features excellent service, fine tea poured from pristine bone china, the daintiest, most delicate cucumber and butter sandwiches, and scones served with housemade devonshire cream. These are the makings for an opulent afternoon surrounded by fine marble walls and baroque chandeliers. This is the tea of an afternoon remembered.
However, if the $30 price tag for all this fastidiousness is too rich for your vacation budget, there is a low-rent option.
Lovejoy's in lovely Noe Valley is no less sublime, but the attitude and atmosphere is much cozier. It's still bone china, but slightly chipped and mismatched, and while you won't find marble and glass, you'll see plenty of warm wood, tapestries and antiques. The food is much more filling but less carefully prepared, and the service...well, the service lets you know you're in a small neighborhood and not a grand hotel. However, for around ten bucks, it's a wonderful way to whittle away the afternoon.
For something really different, and very San Francisco, get away from the English style of tea altogether. Pay a visit to the Imperial Tea Room on Powell Street and sample some of their 200+ varieties of regular and supreme blends of teas from all over the world, including one from China picked by monkeys. There's no food, but this is an opportunity to get caffienated in unique surroundings of marble and delicate wall-hung poetry scrolls. Rumor has it that this is the first Chinese-style tea house in the US. On occasional Saturday mornings, the place fills with singing caged birds.
Whether it's tea for two or just you for tea, no matter what your brew you'll enjoy something spectacular in San Francisco's tea houses.
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