One of the biggest perks of having a little girl is doing posh girly activities like the fashionista tea at the Berkeley Hotel, near Harrods.
In the cozy Caramel Room with its chocolate-colored walls, you can sample what is known as Pret-A-Portea, “a delicate collection of cakes and fancies in the colours of the fashion season, in the style of the world’s finest designers,” to quote our menu. This includes a Mulberry Bayswater handbag with silver clasp, a Roger Vivier chocolate ‘over-the-knee’ boot, a Christian Lacroix dark chocolate dress, and a Burberry Prorsum classic trench coat.
The tea (Earl Grey).
The sandwiches (the smoked salmon was awesome).
The coat and shoes!
The bag!!
And the goodie bags, which are just as cute as the miniature bag made of fondant (I ate two of them).
I wish I could complain about the price, but the fact is Anna ate for free, our waitress, who had an accent I could not place, kept the finger sandwiches and fancy cakes coming, and two hours later, Mike and I walked out completely stuffed and Anna was totally high on sugar, all for 78 pounds, with tip.
I’ve spent more on less.
Can I distinguish Lacroix from Prada or Vivier from Marc Jacobs? I can proudly say no. Fashion isn’t about the clothes, anyway. It’s about exclusivity. But I did have a blast watching our waitress, with her lit red pointer (my favorite part because it was delivered with such powerpoint-presentation precision), walk us through each handbag, dress, coat, and boot and explain how the chef took inspiration from these overpriced garments and accessories to create the little concoctions on our plates. Bravo Berkeley!