Upstairs On The Square

91 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 864-1933

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Afternoon Tea is usually the reserve of expensive hotels and specialist tea rooms; rarely does anyone else enter the ring. Occasionally restaurants throw their hat in and although many soon follow with the towel, a few winners sneak through to claim glory. The key is to be something different and preferably somewhere different as well. There’s no sense in a restaurant being just a Xerox copy of what you can get in name-drop hotels. So this is the challenge for Upstairs… be unique, be anti-hotel but still be afternoon tea.

Upstairs was originally a pet-project restaurant run by enterprising ladies above the now-gone Hasty Pudding Theatre. When that lease ended, a move to Winthrop Park was in order and the little restaurant grabbed a splendid two-storey spot right in the middle of the Harvard Square area. The mark of genius was to then deck this prime location out head-to toe in extravagance that borders on camp. The annex overlooking the square in which tea is served is a great example of this – zebra-print carpet, pink and gold furniture and antique mirrors galore - all with a great view down the short flight of stairs to the academic and eccentric life below. No hotel competes on this level. Upstairs stand out from the usual crowd by sticking their tongue firmly in their cheek and whistling you away to some fairytale Alice-in-Wonderland otherworld.

Afternoon tea is served from 3 til 5 pm, Thursday to Saturday and consists of a tea of your choice plus savories and sweets. As of May 2007 it costs $25 (add $7 for a glass of bubbly). The tea is poured from antique silver teapots and the food, served on a three-tiered silver stand, is a break from the norm with alternative breads like focaccia featuring highly and a prominent role for bacon-wrapped dates ('devils on horseback'). Interestingly, for $18 you can instead get a peppermint afternoon tea - mint tea, mint chocolate, mint parfait and mint brownie. Go here to impress a date. It'll make you look cultured without making making you feel stuffed up.

Hana…
I was wowed so much by Upstairs the first time that I brought a friend here to celebrate her birthday, and introduce her to afternoon tea. On the second visit, I found out that their tea treats rotate on different days, which is nice. They are also flexible with changing the food to leave out something you don't like, say if you want more sweets than savouries or go vegetarian. Ask them to go through the list of what they have for that day's afternoon tea treats. Don't be deterred by the pink wall because it adds a touch of whimsy to atmosphere, to counter-balance with what is otherwise a traditional [old?] activity. I love the light fixtures especially.

As for criticism, I suppose it would be that they ran out of teapots the second time I went, and were trying to find more of them. There was also a small party in the room, which was a bit noisy, so it wasn't as enjoyable as the first time. Both times, the service was friendly and let you hang out and have a relaxing conversation with your friends. I also appreciate the nice touch of giving us chocolate mints at the end, a lovely way to end a tea meal.

Tom…
Unlike Hana I only went to Upstairs the once, but I’ve been desperate to get back for a second bite at this cherry. The zebra room really sets a great tone from the start, just one glance at the floor tells you that Upstairs are not going to be going down the traditional route. No, Upstairs want to take you somewhere fun and funky. And so off to your fantastical pink palace it is.

Like the décor, the food veers wildly away from the traditional and in this case it’s a welcome change - I loved them all. The light lemon sponge cake and the mozzarella and tomato focaccia sandwich were the standouts for me.

If I have to criticize Upstairs, I’d say they need to work on adding a more imaginative tea selection to their menu as their current list doesn’t offer many eye-openers, but that's just a minor point. The random collection of antique silver teapots at least provides some funky eye candy that complements the overall ambiance. And I’d also welcome anyone coming here to dress to funk-press as Upstairs is not a tea for the suit and tie oldies, this is for the hip kids of the younger generation - the anti-establishment afternoon tea.