Lady Mendl’s

Inspired by Elsie de Wolfe, famed socialite and former neighbor of 56 Irving Place, the rooms of this brownstone (an inn since 1994) are decorated in parlor pinks, soft greens and florals, with antiques tucked into every corner. The fancy five-course tea service begins with a mixed greens salad, followed by a sampling of tea sandwiches (standard cucumber as well as salmon with cream cheese, and goat cheese with sun-dried tomato). Then come the scones with raspberry preserves and clotted cream, cookies, cakes and dainty petit fours. It’s all accompanied by a pot of tea, naturally, or you can opt for a demurely rebellious concoction (gin, grapefruit juice and Cointreau) called the Pink Lady.