Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a big reference to all movie lovers and Gossip Girl fans. If you’re into books, you may have read the novel too. I did. It was great. When I moved to New York City back in 2019, what I wanted was my Gossip Girl moment. Little did I know that I’d get much more than that: my Holly Golightly moment during afternoon tea at Tiffany’s Blue Blox Café.
What is Blue Box Café?
For those of you who don’t know, Blue Box Café is a restaurant on the 6th floor of The Landmark, Tiffany’s 5th Avenue flagship store in New York City. London also has it’s very own version, at Harrods. The New York City version recently reopened after years of renovations and constructions. French chef Daniel Boulud designed the menu and signature experience of the café.
The restaurant is covered in Tiffany’s signature blue with white accents. I think the most noticeable element of the venue really is the ceiling. It is decorated by hundreds of hanging Tiffany’s blue boxes of all sizes. The space was designed by Peter Marino, and includes a private dining area, café and bar and features custom art installations. The venue is beautifully decorated and lovely. However, I did not expect it to be this small. I guess now it makes sense why it’s so tricky to get a reservation or a walk-in.
RELATED – Afternoon tea at Lillie’s Victorian Establishment.
Afternoon Tea at Tiffany’s
Blue Box Café has three signature culinary experiences: the Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the Afternoon Tea at Tiffany’s, and a casual all-day dining with a French touch. We decided to go for the afternoon tea, which came with a plate of scones with clotted cream and jam, and a 3-tiered cake stand:
- Tea Sandwiches (tier 1): Egg & watercress, Cucumber, dill & cream cheese, Smoked salmon “bagel”, Chicken curry & mango chutney, Corned beef, mustard & pickles.
- Pastries (tier 2): peach Eton mess, Dulce de leche éclair, Pistachio succès, Dark chocolate & raspberry cube.
- Cookies (tier 3): Canelé, Macaron, Coconut rocher.
The afternoon tea also comes with a tea pot, which is technically bottomless, although it is not really advertised. Based on the face our waiter made when I asked for more tea, I am wondering if it is a strange request? Although, it should not be. There is the option to add a glass of Champagne, but we decided to not make tea boozy this once.
My personal favorites were the chicken curry & mango chutney, as well as the corned beef on the savory side. For the dessert, of course the Eton mess and the chocolate and raspberry cube. So delicious! I always love the combination of chocolate and berries. It always has a nice kick. Scones are always my favorites although I prefer them plain.
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Is it worth the price?
The afternoon tea is $98 per person. While it may seem like a lot of money for miniature pastries and finger sandwiches, I do feel like it is worth the price. Hear me out. I have been to a lot of afternoon teas in New York City. Some are cheaper, some are pricier. If I had to compare, I would say that Afternoon Tea at Tiffany’s was one of the most pleasant ones. In addition, the quality of each and every single item on the cake stand was mind blowing.
Each pastries was so delicate, intricate and well thought out. They looked beautiful and you could tell there is technic behind each. The savory items were delicious and creative. Not one thing out of place and a wide variety of treats. Of all the afternoon teas I have been to in NYC, Blue Box Café was one of the best in terms of quality, service, ambiance and the venue itself. If you’re looking to have a luxurious experience and want to splurge, I highly recommend Blue Box Café for afternoon tea.
RELATED – Afternoon tea at The Palm Court, The Plaza.
How to get a reservation
Getting a reservation at Blue box Café is very difficult. The venue is small and therefore, there is not enough room for everyone. In addition, the place went viral on social media so of course, everybody wants to go. Now, there are two ways to get a reservations: walk-ins and bookings.
I heard that if you go to Blue Box Café at the opening, 10am, to be added to the waitlist, there is a good chance you will be called within an hour. Good thing there is a ton of shopping to do around! However, based on my experience, the chance that you do snatch a walk-in are still very thin. I saw people being turned away by the dozen, so I guess, you do need to show up early.
The other option – and safest in my opinion – is to snatch a booking. You can do so on Resy. Now, available bookings go extremely fast so it is a game of speed. Apparently, Blue Box Café releases new time slots every Thursday at 9am, for the next month. You can set up notifications to get an alert once there is availability.
In my mind, when I was trying to secure a booking, I was convinced I had read somewhere that new time slots were released at 8:30am. Thus, I was glued to my screen, refreshing the page until I’d see something available. And without fail, at 8:20am, bookings for the next Sunday became available. I did not have time to think, I snatch 1pm and that was it. Sometimes, the unexpected happens. Just be ready.
It also happens sometimes that an existing booking is cancelled at the last minute or a few days before, so the time slot becomes available and you have a chance to grab it. However, every time I saw it happened, it was during a weekday and so I would not have been able to make it anyways. But you never know, stay on the lookout, and refresh that Resy page on Thursday mornings starting at 8:15am!
Have you heard of Blue Box Café? Is it on your bucket list? Would you get the afternoon tea too, or would you rather grab lunch? Have you been to the one in London? How is it?
Thanks a lot for stopping by. Hope you liked this post.
See you soon,
Love,
Corinne.
