Tea for Two: the Tête-à-tête Ceremony

Rozanna Chechetkina authored the new program, and the reason behind it was a wish to expand the usual conversational format of tea time in the Tea Salon at Grand Hotel Moika 22. The ceremony is called Tête-à-tête and follows the same rule as the entire bel étage lineup: the table is set for only two guests, turning tea time into an occasion for dialogue rather than just a pause between tasks.

Tea for two remains one of the few restaurant formats where silence is valued no less than words.

The menu is built like a collage of memories: summer berries, homemade curd cookies, madeleines nodding to Proustian associations, signature chocolate, rhubarb, and guava. The sweets hide inside chocolate vessels that have to be cracked open to reach the filling — a simple gesture turned into a small ritual. The plating also has a playful nod to travel: miniature spirits, the kind usually brought back as a souvenir from a trip.

The desserts are served with tea from the Kolokolnikov merchants' collection — Indian and Chinese varieties — and the sweets sit alongside compact sandwiches: all of it laid out on a three-tier stand. The format runs from morning into early evening, 10:00 to 18:00, while the Tea Salon is open. The program costs 4,700 ₽, or 6,500 ₽ with a pair of glasses of La Gioiosa prosecco.

The result is less a tasting than a small performance for two: flavor here works hand in hand with emotion, and the whole ceremony rests on pauses, glances, and stories that surface between sips of tea.