Last week in Charleston, my mom and I (mostly my idea) decided we wanted to check out the new Hotel Bennet on King Street. After perusing their website for a few minutes, I stumbled across the page for their Champagne Bar called Camellias. I noticed they offered an afternoon tea three times a week, so my mom got on Open Table and booked us a reservation for Valentine’s Day. They only have 5-6 tables, so a reservation is required!!
The Hand Painted Alcove
This place was gorgeous!! Everything was pink and glamorous. There was a giant chandelier hanging in the center of the room that was an amazing focal point. The pink marble tables were actually made from marble that was taken from the Charleston Library that previously stood where the hotel is now, which was a cool little history fact that I loved learning about. The waitress also pointed out that the little alcoves were hand painted!
We were seated right when they opened at 2 PM. The server came over and explained the how the whole tea situation worked. We each got to pick from 12 different tea options, and we both chose Earl Gray. We each got individual little tea pots and they brought out a timer so we could time how long we wanted our tea to seep. Our server also explained that some people get two teas to split between two people; one to go with the savory bites and one to go with the sweet treats.
The savory bites came out right after the tea. The menu was described to us as “afternoon tea with a southern twist,” so some of the bites included a fried grit cake with pimento cheese and waffle with duck pate. I honestly could have eaten 20 of the grit cakes!
To finish off, each of us got a tiered tray full of dessert bites! All of the desserts are made in the hotel’s patisserie, and they were delicious. The chocolate cake (I believe they called it their Royal Cake) was my favorite! The best part about the desserts was that you could go to the patisserie and pick up the full size to take home with you!
This was such a fun way to spend Valentine’s day with my mom! If you are traveling to Charleston, I would highly recommend adding this to your itinerary. Just remember that you NEED a reservation and they have a dress code, so avoid wearing jeans. You can follow the lead of the 4-year olds next to us and go all out princess dresses, crowns, and gloves! They were the cutest!
