This is a sweet spot to take a load off after shopping on Colorado. The menu’s full of sandwiches and salads, but if you’ve got the time, settle in for the Scarlet Tea Ceremony. Its five courses include scones with Devonshire cream, preserves, and lemon curd; plenty of tea sandwiches (chicken-tahini, salmon and chive); and to finish it off, strawberries Romanoff. Dinner is served on Friday and Saturday.

 

Best Afternoon Tea, September 2009

 

The service is attentive at Scarlet Tea Room, where owner Karen Mikaelian kibitzes with customers amid colorful chandeliers and beige fabric-covered walls. Her “Five-Course Tea” begins with seed-flecked strawberry sorbet and continues with exotic sandwiches (chopped mushroom and citrus, fig and goat cheese). Lemon curd and preserves accompany the scones, and don’t pass on the Scarlet cream—it’s the best of the lot.