AnnTremet Cake: Holiday Afternoon Tea NYC

Update November 2024: It seems that now AnnTremet allows guests to use the employee bathroom. You do have to walk through their kitchen to get there, but it was available for customer use when I went for a return visit.

I’m continuing my mini Christmas tea series with AnnTremet Cake! AnnTremet Cake was a new experience for me, but they are a well known, incredible bakery, famous for their mirror mousse cakes! I was excited to try them for the first time with their new Holiday Afternoon Tea!

A Little Bit of History: According to their website, AnnTremet is owned by husband and wife team, Annabelle and Peixin, who founded the company in 2018. Both of them are working professionals in New York City who had the desire to bring joy to the hard working people in NYC. The specialty of the bakery is mirror glazed mousse cakes with a shiny coat (seriously gorgeous cakes!) They also handcraft a variety of other cakes and desserts (both sweet and savory) and have become a local favorite.

The Experience: Before you are seated, you are asked to pick three mousse cakes for your party. This was the most exciting part for me and I appreciated the personalization of this experience. Their cakes are GORGEOUS and it was hard to decide, but we ended up choosing the 1) Mango Madness (mango gelee, mango custard, mango mousse and vanilla cake) 2) Black Sesame (raspberry coulee, black seasame mousse and matcha sponge, and 3) Bunny cheesecake (double cheesecake with japanese cotton cheesecake and cream cheese mousse). Just to be clear they are not 3 per person. It is 3 for your party but they are a generous size, good enough to split comfortably in half. Also to note, the menu said you could only choose two (one pp), but we were allowed to choose three for no additional cost unless you chose the bunny cheesecake which had a $5 upcharge because its a speciality item. We chose the bunny cheesecake, but we could have chosen any of the cakes for our third choice and not of had an additional charge.

So first thing you notice is the establishment is pretty small. There is some outdoor seating, but it was a rainy day so my party sat inside. We were only two, and the seating was set up for three parties of two inside. I am curious if they can seat parties of three or more.

The service was a little disorganized because the person managing the store front (who was incredibly nice) also served the afternoon tea and had to put it together while managing customers upfront. That didn't bother me, though I did need to walk up to ask any questions or get her attention. 

They offer a choice between six teas and two types of hot chocolate. We chose the peppermint hot chocolate with oatmilk. Our. server even gave me a choice between two types of oatmilk which I loved. The teapot holds 6 servings of whatever you choose and you are offered a refill of the entire pot. However our server made a point to mention that THEY DO NOT HAVE A CUSTOMER BATHROOM. I'm sorry, but the second I heard this I couldn't focus on anything else.

There is a bathroom on premise but it's only for employees. This is fine when they are just a take out bakery, but I questioned the legality when offering a sit down eating experience. However, apparently they can get away with it, because New York City law states that if a food service establishment has 20 or more seats and opened after 1977, it must provide a toilet for its customers. This cafe would seat less than 20. Still, this really threw me off. It overshadowed how good the actual tea experience was when customers can't truly have a comfortable experience.

But I digress. What I did LOVE is this experience SCREAMED Christmas which not all afternoon teas that are promoted as holiday themed, do well. They were also VERY generous with their sweet items. In addition to our three mouse cakes, we had Christmas themed macaroons (one was a christmas tree and the other was a santa belt/costume), snickerdoodle cookies and gingerbread men cookies. We also had a lemon lavendar butter cookie, a ginger pecan russian tea cookie, a walnut cookie, a mini apple cinnamon scone and a seasonal pumpkin cheesecake. What’s great is that if you like any of these, you could also buy one (or a few) to go because they sold them in their storefront. It was a great way to sample what the bakery had to offer. Our hot chocolate was also served with a seasonal themed tree marshmallow and a candy cane.

For the savory items they offered three “cake sales” which is basically like a savory poundcake. 1) Zucchini Bacon, 2) Sundried Tomato mushroom 3) Olive Rosemary. All three of these were also available for individual purchase.

In addition you had three other savory bites: 1) salmon and dill mini sandwich, 2) prosciutto and japanese mayo sandwich (the menu said turkey but this was definitely prosciutto). 3) Cherry Tomato Basil Mozzarella skewer. These were not available for individual sale and special just for the tea.

This was served in three tiers, but they were not traditional in the way they were separated. The bottom tier was the mousse cakes of your choosing. The middle tier was a mix of savory and sweet and the top tier was all sweet. When they serve the display they put powdered sugar on top of the tiers to make it look like its snowing which is a cute touch. (They do ask if you want this or not).

Everything was delicious and I am dreaming about the mousse cakes. I thought the amount of food you get and the quality was exceptional for $52 pp. And its a great way to just sample what the bakery has to offer.

As of Today: AnnTremet is currently serving afternoon tea every day of the week but Monday. Their Holiday afternoon tea will go on for the month of December, but you need to mention in the notes section of your reservation that you are requesting it. It currently is $52 per person not including tax.

My Rating: 4/5 teacups. I am really torn because the mousse cakes at AnnTremet's is OUT OF THIS WORLD. I literally have been dreaming about them and plan to go back just to get mousse cakes. I also loved that this was truly a Christmas themed experience where other places can go less on the theme.

However, I don’t think they have fully thought through transitioning from just being a bakery to being an afternoon tea spot.  The afternoon tea was a 5/5 for it's Christmas theme and everything was delicious. The service was a little clunky because when the storefront is busy the people who are seated for afternoon tea aren't checked on, but that didn't bother me as much. The bathroom REALLY bothered me so that's why my rating is a 4/5 teacups. If the food wasn't so spectacular and if this wasn't one of the most Christmas themed afternoon tea experiences I'd had, I would have given it a 3.5/5 teacups, but the desserts are just THAT GOOD.

I would go back just for the desserts to take out. I would recommend the afternoon tea experience for people with strong bladders. Yes I said it. Beautiful bakery, but the afternoon tea experience needs a little work to be truly comfortable for guests.

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