You Have to Try this Afternoon Tea by a Pastry World Champion

Scones dusted with camomile and pollen. Choux pastries coated in buckwheat kernels. Raw-milk ice cream with no sugar. This may not sound like a classic afternoon tea — where are the cucumber finger sandwiches? — but hold onto your hats, it’s even better. Dare we say it might be the best in Paris. And there’s some stiff competition out there!

The chef who’s devised this masterpiece is Jessica Préalpato, named “World’s Best Pastry Chef” by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and “Pastry Chef of the Year” by Gault & Millau in 2019. Formerly the pastry chef of the Michelin three-starred Plaza Athénée restaurant, she’s brought her creative chops and enviable technical skills to the Hotel San Régis with an afternoon goûter unlike any other.

After all, the family-owned hotel has been celebrating a big milestone birthday. A centennial, in fact. And Les Confidences restaurant, where the tea is hosted, is a chic setting with light pouring through the atrium-style glass roof onto the Bernardaud porcelain plate settings.

Préalpato’s nature-first philosophy is all about honoring the pure flavors of exceptional ingredients. She does this with unexpected and unique products. (Hence the scones we mentioned, which- by the way- arrive at your table on a bed of seeds. Another flavor is fennel.) She also uses flours made with ancient heritage grains.

Here’s what’s in store at your afternoon tea. A fruity infusion, fragrant with rooibos, is poured with the first service. Mini scones are paired with a trio of accompaniments. “It’s like eating a flower,” our 12-year-old companion said of the heather honey that came as one of the “dips”— her word! The others are a tangy citrus jam, and a bowl of raw cream. There are also little bowls of sliced kiwi and kumquat. And those divine choux.

The next service is a hazelnut tart made with nuts sourced from the Domaine des Kaolins in the Auvergne. This is meant to be shared. There’s also a plated dessert combining Corsican grapefruit and rose hips; the fantastically original flavor combo is enhanced with hemp and aged olive oil from Les Baux-de-Provence.

But wait, there’s more. The finale is a chocolate cake paired with raw cream ice cream with not a pinch of sugar. The idea is that guests can savor the pure taste of the raw milk which is delivered by a farmer every morning.

The perfect portions and reduced sugar means you won’t leave in a food coma. But don’t get us wrong— you won’t need to eat dinner after this indulgence.

Designed in a classical French style, the elegant Hotel San Régis is a bijou on the rue Jean Goujon between the Champs-Elysées and the Seine. It’s a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

DETAILS
Les Confidences Restaurant at Hotel San Régis
12 rue Jean Goujon, 8th
Tel: +33 (0)1 44 95 16 16
The goûter by Jessica Préalpato costs 65 euros per person, or 85 euros if you add a flute of Pol Roger champagne.
Hours: Wed-Sat, 3:30- 5:30 pm