Afternoon Tea at the St. Regis Shanghai
This May 1 holiday, a 5-day holiday here in China, I decided to stay in Shanghai, once again. Happily, a friend came into town, and by happenstance he was gifted afternoon tea for two by the general manager of the St. Regis in Jing’an. When my friend asked if I wanted to join him, I said YES!
St. Regis is the “old school luxury” brand of Marriott, and “the Drawing Room” where afternoon tea is held, part of the lobby floor, was a real reflection of this.
Everything is so oversized here!
My friend spotted a gentleman? lady? striding around with a walking stick, in a curious costume complete with steampunk glasses. Was s/he just dressed up for the occasion? Or was this the St. Regis’s way of creating ambiance for guests?
Turns out he was part of the collaboration between St. Regis and the Élévatione cosmetics brand. The general manager had actually explained (on a previous visit) that they find partnerships for their afternoon teas. Past collaborations have included Bentley. I had never heard of Élévatione before, but then I checked up their website and apparently they are inspired by Salvador Dalí. Their motto is “Time Stops” - I guess like those melting clocks?? So that “explained” this strange fellow with the penciled-on pencil mustache!
I can see how brand would want to partner with St. Regis to collaborate on their afternoon tea - brand exposure to a certain clientele and association with an established luxury experience, but what’s in it for the St. Regis brand, I wonder?
Regardless of the effectiveness of the the actor-provided ambiance (the live piano music was more effective), the afternoon tea itself was really special. We could each choose something from the tea and coffee menu. The server recommended the Earl Grey and the Darjeeling, so that’s what we went with. The Earl Grey became way too spicy over time, while the Darjeeling was much more agreeable.
There were both savory and sweet components of the tea. Starting from the savory side, there was a white asparagus panna cotta topped with tobiko. The “panna cotta” was a bit too firm. The roll was a kalimeris (马兰头) salad spring roll topped with caviar. The salad was a classic Shanghaiese 香干马兰头 malantou with pressed bean curd - a dish I made just a few days ago!
Continuing on top, the thing with a square base was a tart filled with fava bean mousse, topped with shrimp coated with dried meat floss, topped with vinegar pearls. The round thing was a puff filled with marscapone cheese, black truffle, and delightful “prociutto chip.” The dark things are foie gras balls topped with dark chocolate, on top of mini (Ritz-type) crackers.
The savory side was good, but I preferred the sweet side. Starting from the red ones and working clockwise: mini vanilla cream berry tart (perfectly fragrant raspberries hiding a light-as-air tower of cream). Next was a mini Linzer torte (nice and tender, and not too sweet). The tower was an orange and mint passionfruit tart. And the squiggly thing was a sweet cone (like a tiny waffle cone cup), filled with avocado and a chunk of banana on the bottom (squiggly like soft serve - I get it now!).
On the bottom deck, clockwise from the scones with dried cranberries: baked tiramisu, topped with the mini leaf and half a blueberry, This was kind of like a solid mousse. Next was the cute peach raspberry chocolate flower pot. So pretty but a bit too sweet for me! Then the amarena cherries mascarpone cake.
In a fitting tie-in with the Élévatione cosmetics brand, the clotted cream and strawberry jam were served in eye cream containers!
I just loved how all of the rolls and tarts and flower pots were had their own shape and identity and character. Such masterful creativity! My favorite of all was the raspberry tart. It was just so fresh and light, with that perfumed flavor of raspberry that’s so ethereal.
My only quibble with the whole experience was that the ambiance felt a bit busy, in part contributed by the noise from guests coming and going through the contiguous lobby area. The floor area under our table was carpeted, but otherwise the floor of the drawing room along with the lobby was marble. The super tall ceilings with comparatively small floor space didn’t help with sound or ambiance either. And even though there was live piano, there was also some kind of pop music playing at the same time in the overhead speakers.
Still, this was a real treat. The pastries were a delight - a feast for both the eyes and palate. And I can understand one benefit to St. Regis for having the collaborations: I could happily go back they change up their collaboration, and look forward to something different!
