D.C. has gone Chinoiserie mad with the opening last week of the Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibition at the National Geographic, its last stop in the U.S. Many hotels and restaurants are having Chinoiserie themed menus and events as well. I was excited to attend an Afternoon Tea "Chinois" at the Willard Hotel. They have transformed their tea area called Peacock Alley into a Chinoiserie wonderland. Here are photos I took showing the beautiful floral arrangements, silk panels and pillows, and lanterns they used to dramatically decorate the space. Visually the place is stunning. Unfortunately, the food was mediocre, the tea lukewarm, the service perfunctory at best, and the noise deafening from a wedding in the same area. Peacock Alley is not a separate dining room, but the main corridor of the hotel with the gift shop and banquet halls. You can sip tea as tourists wandering the corridor gawk at you while you listen to terrible wedding music right out of the Wedding Singer for $49 a person before tax and tip. Take it from me and walk through the Willard for free and partake of the beautiful Chinoiserie display, then head to Chinatown or elsewhere for real hot tea and dim sum. Two favorites of mine for a fraction of the price and much better tea, food, and service are Mark's Duck House in Falls Church and Ching Ching Cha in Georgetown.
