Santé

I attended the Cherry Blossom Tea this weekend with five friends, and it was pretty nice! Two people in our party had strict dietary restrictions (gluten free and dairy free), and they were perfectly accommodated. I do agree with what a few others have said about the service taking a while (our seating was at 2:30 and we didn’t finish until 4:30, making us a little late for a 4:45 event we were all going to). The tea was lovely though and the desserts + tea sandwiches were surprisingly filling! Not to mention the complementary mimosas were an added bonus. The price was a little high at $110 per person, but I guess it is the Ritz. We had purposefully picked this tea experience because it was supposed to be a little bit less compared to some other cherry blossom teas in the DMV, but it ended up being about the same. The restaurant was also a little bit loud, but overall it was a pretty good experience I’d recommend, especially if you have friends with dietary restrictions.

We enjoyed a lovely prix fixe dinner at Santé on New Year's Eve. We called ahead to let them know of my wheat and lobster allergy (both of which were on the menu), and they subbed other dishes in, which is not something all restaurants are willing to do for a prix fixe meal. The server was friendly and helpful, letting me know what exactly my replacement dish was. I had a lovely champagne cocktail, too. Just a reminder to all restaurants after a previous career spent planning large conferences: melon is not an acceptable replacement for dessert for allergy/Celiac folks when everyone else is getting some impressive glutinous creation. At least spring for ice cream, rice pudding, or maybe a plate of Goodie Girl cookies (or Enjoy Life cookies, if multiple ingredient allergies are at play). Trust me. We notice which hotels and restaurants put even an ounce of thought into it. Which is to say... thanks for the ice cream!