There is no other place in San Diego more appropriate to enjoy the Victorian ritual of Afternoon Tea.
The Cosmopolitan itself has its roots in the Victorian era, having been built to its current configuration in the late 1860s as a hotel and restaurant to serve stagecoach passengers on their way to and from Los Angeles. The Cosmopolitan has been meticulously and lovingly been restored to its glory – a seamless blending of Old West and 19th-century European elegance with touches of the Spanish influence reminiscent of San Diego’s transition from a Mexican pueblo to an American city.
Afternoon tea today, much as it was during it’s 19th-century rise in popularity, is as much about the food as it is the tea. In fact, afternoon tea was born from a need to bridge the gap between lunch and the traditionally late dinners customary in Victorian England.
The chefs at the Cosmopolitan have taken the traditional variety of tea foods – small sandwiches, cakes, and pastries – and reimagined them with the Spanish and Mexican influences native to San Diego’s past. The result is a savory and sweet journey into the elegance of two very different worlds.
To experience Afternoon Tea at the Cosmopolitan is to experience the blending of cultures that is the hallmark of San Diego’s past and present.