Afternoon Tea Offers Solace For Customers At Pentagon City Hotel

ARLINGTON, VA — Amid the whirl of the holidays and the crush of concerns over the coronavirus, it's nice to enjoy a few moments of contemplative silence and sip a cup of very good tea.

Throughout December, The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City has created a space for customers to retreat from the rush of the world and experience the simple pleasure of an Afternoon Tea.

"Our hope was to offer something that was safe but also an experience that people haven't had for months and months and months," said Brad Cance, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton. "We had it for years and years and had a following that loved tea. We wanted to bring that back to them while being socially responsible."

Tables in the hotel's Fyve Restaurant are set at least six feet apart, with additional rooms for diners to go to for more privacy. Employees wear gloves and masks and frequently sanitize tables and touchpoints.

"We really felt like it was something that we could do that would offer that experience to our guests, a lot of our traditional guests," Cance said. "It's bringing back that sense of normalcy if you will."

The pandemic has hit the hospitality industry hard, and The Ritz Carlton is not immune from its effect. The Pentagon City hotel has seen a 75 percent loss in revenue and was forced to reduce its staff by 40 percent.

"We're actually probably one of the better cases of hotels because of our location near the Pentagon, so we'll have a lot of government business here," Cance said.

With Fyve located inside the hotel, guests appreciate not having to leave the building to have a good meal. However, since the pandemic started, walk-in traffic has dropped off considerably.

"While it's been a negative impact, we also feel that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but that might not be till March," Cance said. "We've had some real ups and downs with business, but we've been more blessed than a lot of people."

Since its re-opening, Fyve has started to see more of its regular clientele return. The restaurant offered a family-style Thanksgiving brunch and is planning something similar for Christmas.

The Afternoon Tea offers a selection of tea sandwiches, a chef's sweet plate, and homemade currant scone with clotted Devonshire cream, lemon cream, and fruit preserves. The Tea Royale offers the same fare, but also comes with a glass of sparkling wine, a Mimosa, or a Bellini.

Each customer gets their own pot of tea, of course. They can choose from a variety of styles, including English Breakfast Black, Earl Gray Black, Jasim Green, and Mint Herbal. There are also two caffeine-free herbal teas to choose from.

"One of the things that we try to do here is that we try to take classical dishes, like egg salad, and do a little modern twist," said Chef Jose Noguez. "That's one of the most important things we like to emphasize is keep it very simple but add a little experience, a little different value to it."

The Ritz-Carlton is offering tea service every day from 12-3 p.m., during the holidays, through Dec. 27.

Noguez is part of a team of chefs, including Executive Chef Phil Skerman and fellow restaurant Chef Kevin Marshall, overseeing The Ritz-Carlton's Fyve Restaurant. They're constantly thinking about how to maintain a creative and fresh menu.

"For us, it's trying to keep it classic but keep it very simple and tasteful," Noguez said.