Our 45th Spot:

The Third Floor at The Jay Hotel

433 Clay Street San Francisco, CA 94111

www.thethirdfloorsf.com

Best decision I’ve made: to squeeze this one in on the Tour.

The Jay Hotel has only been around 4 months (formerly Le Méridien) and their afternoon tea only started yesterday. So proud of myself for making reservations here! Hehe.

They offer 5 different bases of tea. I thought I was sold on getting the Black, but I’m so glad they came over with samples to study. Interestingly, the Black wasn’t as appealing as I read. However the WHITE!? Smelled delicious.

WHITE | Dragon Pearl (jasmine, sweet, smooth) – Very floral, such a flavorful white! Was taking gulps!!

GREEN | Genmai Matcha (bright, nutty, smooth) – Could smell it all the way from the other side of the table! A gorgeous chartreuse. Earthy and smooth, like they said!

The tier was minimal. But don’t let it fool you!

Scone – Today’s was Apricot & Walnut. I was casually spreading my devonshire cream and adding some preserves on top and… [GASP] I was totally caught off guard. I don’t even like walnuts!! And this was packed with it! The mouthfuls of walnuts and chewy apricots were just so good together!!

Beef Tartare, Pickled Beech Mushroom, Rice Cracker – The cracker alone was already great, think of a shrimp chip. Fun texture, had a sweetness but also a little spicy, and adored the freshness of the herb.

Truffled Egg Salad on White Bread – This packed such a big punch! I could taste the truffle, but also maybe some curry. Even the bread was so scrumptious + chewy!

Cherry and Walnut Chicken Salad on Honey Wheat and Oat Bread – There were so many levels of flavor and texture in this one. They used the best parts of the chicken, like it’s certainly thigh!! Could even distinguish the oats in the bread!

Apple and Pecan Tartlet with Gouda Cheese – Just looking at this again makes me wanna cry! (whiny face emoji) Thick pastry. Definitely got a cheese-mustache but it was so fun! There was just no cute way to eat it… The saltiness from the cheese with the sweet of the filling was everything Salty/Sweet Lovers want + need in their lives. Which is who me + my girlfriend are!

Lemon Glazed Madeleine – This tasted like a donut! Light lemon + fluffy cake.

Raspberry Macaron – Macaron fillings aren’t usually this runny, but it was so welcomed here. The shell was ultra delicate. Perfect combo.

Caramelized White Chocolate and Pine Nut Cream Puff – It had a conchas topping!! Not your average cream puff. Party in my mouth!

Matcha Cheesecake with Mango – Buttery. Depth. Superior.

Chocolate Cremeux with Tangerine – This was my least favorite of the Sweets… Buut, I still ate it all! 🙂

So- I took my longtime girlfriend here. We’ve known each other since our firstborns were babies (both are 17 now). She’s an incredible single mother of 2 teens, with a corporate job AND a growing Coaching Business (follow her @stephanie.mechelle.coaching). I’ve had the opportunity to see her in action and I am in AWE of her work. We see each other at least every other week for our business accountability meetings on zoom, but we need to get away for some Girl Time too. We can talk for hours and hours! And today was no different! We spent almost 3 hours at tea today, with the occasional stop in from our amazing server (Hi Nate!). So much good for our souls!! But, let me tell you- I had a really hard time paying attention sometimes cuz my eyes were rolling back in my head from how GOOD this tea service was!!!

Please please PLEASE do yourselves a favor and make time to visit The Jay Hotel and have Afternoon Tea at The Third Floor. Periodt. That’s all. Okay?? I cannot stress how much I loved everything about this place. The decor, the service (clapping hands)…I was even Shazam’ing the music! EVEN the valet guy was super nice. And then I couldn’t stop talking about it on my way home. SO GLAD we made the effort to come before I was off Tour. Otherwise I would’ve had FOMO. Don’t have FOMO you guys. Go. Go now! Go ahead, make your reservations. (okay, I’m done being bossy) But I mean it, it’s a good place. Just sayin… Did you hear me?

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