Zinnia

Before our High Tea reservation at Zinnia, a few of us enjoyed $10 Old Fashioned during happy hour at the upstairs bar. Even though we arrived early, we weren't seated until our exact reservation time. The High Tea experience is only available to those who pre-book and is limited to parties of 2-8 guests. Once seated, we were promptly asked if we preferred still or sparkling water--though we weren't informed there was a $10 per adult charge for sparkling water. On a positive note, they offer a lovely selection of 12 teas. Our server highly recommended their fruit teas, so I opted for the Goji Berry Herbal Tea. We were served plates of fresh fruit--gooseberries, kiwi, and starfruit--before the tea towers arrived, but we had to ask several times for silverware, as none was provided initially. The tea towers were beautifully presented, and I appreciated that they had customized options for various dietary needs (gluten-free, kids, pescatarian, vegan, vegetarian), and they were able to accommodate my allergies. However, one guest had a nut allergy and wasn't informed about the cranberry-walnut bread used in the brie and fig jam sandwich. Each tower came with seven savory and five sweet items. My top picks were the Coronation Chicken with Mango Chutney and the Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Raspberry. Toward the end, we had to request boxes and scone condiments multiple times. When it came time to pay, we were surprised to see a 20% service charge automatically added, along with a suggested gratuity of 20-30%.

Zinnia was amazing! The building itself is a delight to experience, though be aware the indoor is not hugely accessible with lots of stairs. The garden looked okay. The staff were all awesome, attentive but not overly so. And the food... Wow. The food was so good. We got Nuts Over Tokyo and the Ponche to drink, and for dinner we had the buratta, coq au vin, and the Tiny Dumplings. I can't wait to go back again. The menu has such a fantastic range of options for folks who are vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free, rather than one or two choices. But everything looked so good, they would appeal to omnivores too! The hazelnut crunch for dessert was out of this world.