Tea at the Crown and Crumpet tea "cafe" was part of my celebration in San Francisco.
Originally this tea shop was located in Ghiardelli Square, but had re-opened the
week before I arrived in San Francisco's Japantown.
It is located in the entrance to a three story building.
It was fun to walk through the other floors and see the "baby doll" clothes
for the younger women. I loved seeing the playfulness of the store, not part
of the tea shop but an interesting combination in one building.
I commented to the owner that their tearoom had a very different feel.
His response was that they had a desire to make it more of a cafe feel.
Yes, I could see that it was a bit more casual.
After being open only one week they were very busy.
The median age range seemed to be 20's and 30's
and there were definitely men having tea there, treating their special ladies.
It was a very different feel from their original shop and
seemed to be appealing to more local residents instead of tourists
and the ladies that lunch crowd.
The food was the same as I remember from my past visit.
The sandwiches were fresh and tasty.
They included egg salad, cucumber, salmon with cream cheese, and chicken salad.
The crumpet and scone were delicious with traditional clotted cream and strawberry jam.
The sweets I am guessing were made elsewhere, but quite good.
The sign on the wall by my table said "Push All Buttons" which seemed to portray the general playfulness.
I chose to drink their special tea blend of Ceylan, Assam, Darjeeling, it was a very nice black tea.
Loving tea, having afternoon tea, and playfulness,
I would say this was a special treat for my celebration.
