High tea—the afternoon ritual birthed out of the British Empire—has many iterations across SoCal. From the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica to the Biltmore in DTLA, it is a genuinely delightful trip through mimicked, if not outright stolen, sophistication-in-quotes from the Brits. And the high tea service at Chez Bacchus? It’s not just underrated but one of the best in SoCal, offering two types of service that don’t skimp on the elegant, calming nature of high tea.
The high tea service at Chez Bacchus is wonderfully graceful and delightfully tasteful.
The concept of high tea (or, as some call it, afternoon tea) at Chez Bacchus came not from its kind, affable owner and sommelier John Hansen. Rather, it came from his wife, Reina.
“I told him that if we were to open a restaurant, I want to have high tea on the weekends,” Reina said. “Before opening Chez Bacchus, I found myself at an estate sale John had dragged me off to. ‘What are we doing here?’ I asked. ‘You need china for your tea service, no?’ he said.” With this, Reina begins laughing giddily: It was a sincerely romantic gesture tinged with business talk.
Their collection grew, and with it, high tea at Chez Bacchus starts at 11:30AM and 2PM every Saturday and Sunday, each white-clothed table graced with a different china set. One from Japan here. Another from England there. A set from France in front of your own setting. From there, you can choose your tower—the Bacchus Tower (at $65 per person) or the rightfully named Queen’s Tower (at $115 per person)—and sip’n’bite the afternoon away with a piano-laden background soundtrack and the company of those you cherish.
“It’s a way to dive into history,” Reina said. “And not just British history but the history of hospitality and, as I am sure many conversations that have happened here, the history of your friendships and relationships as you simply get to enjoy beautiful tea using beautiful china eating beautiful bites.”
The true purpose of Chez Bacchus’s spectacular tea service? To escape, relax, and perhaps learn a little bit.
Tea service lead Melissa—or someone from her stellar team—will greet you with poise as she lifts a “Chez Bacchus” branded wood tea box, sorting through the weekend’s loose leaf tea offerings. A Darjeeling-based chai. A rose petal tea that brilliantly shifts colors as it reacts to the pH-balance of the water, from a gorgeous teal to redish brown. Classic earl grey. Or a ginger-peach oolong.
“The point is for you to relax, feel calm, and garner some energy for the rest of the day,” Melissa said. “Plus, I love what I do. I get to put on an outfit I feel elegant in, tell the team to match my energy, and play a character for guests. Simply put, it’s a wondrous part of my job.”
For those enjoying higher-end tower, Melissa will direct you a pour of Veuve Cliquot’s newly released Rich Rosé champagne. Wonderfully hefty—it is far from dry and sits in the mouth with an unctuous quality—the champagne is served as the company dictates it should be. In a chilled burgundy glass with a sphere of ice.
For those wanting a bit more punch, go for Chez Bacchu’s classily crafted cocktails. Of particular highlight? Their incredible “Lavender Girl,” where butterfly pea-tinged Empress gin marries with lavender for a solid sour. Or their espresso martini—the Cocktail of the Zeitgeist right now, unquestionably—that uses vodka and vanilla-meets-citrus Licor 43.
The food at high tea is genuinely great—and is proof that the kitchen operates at an incredibly efficient pace.
At Chez Bacchus, the beauty of its Afternoon Tea lies in what makes it maddeningly difficult behind the scenes: producing dozens of delicate, uniform small bites in a single service. Pulling off a menu of multiple small bites in a single service is one of the trickier balancing acts in a restaurant kitchen. On paper, it looks like elegance—variety, refinement, a parade of flavors. In practice, it’s a logistical puzzle that demands discipline and foresight.
What looks effortless on the three-tiered stand—a chicken salad sandwich here, a just-warm, perfectly moist scone there, a fruit tart and cake pops to top it off—is in fact a logistical gauntlet. Each of those bites requires the same mise en place, prep time, and finesse as a full plate, simply shrunk down and multiplied. Multiply that again across a dining room filled with guests all sitting for tea at the same time, and the “tower” becomes a mountain for the kitchen.
Afternoon Tea is a ritual built on sequence: savories, scones, sweets. That means dozens of trays of sandwiches and pastries leaving the kitchen in waves. A croissant can hold a minute or two, but a puff shell collapses if it lingers; a scone goes from pillowy to leaden if it waits too long. Coordinating cold sandwiches, hot bakes, and fragile pastries so they land fresh on the stand is a dance that requires absolute synchronicity from every station.
It shows off the talent of Chef Danny—and the efficiency of his kitchen staff—to pull of what is one of the best high tea menus in the region.
Some highlights from high tea at Chez Bacchus.
There are a few routes one can take while exploring high tea at Chez Bacchus. One—the Queen’s Tower—is obviously more decadent, more elevated, more alcohol-centric, and definitely for the hungrier party. No matter which tower you choose, you will love the experience.
Potatoes & Caviar (from the Queen’s Tower): Potato chips | Mashed potatoes | Potatoes au gratin | Caviar | Chives
Summer Salad: Farmers market peaches | Salad mix | House sourdough croutons | Balsamic vinaigrette
Salmon rilletes (from the Queen’s Tower): Poached salmon | Dill and chive oil | Dill flowers | Cucumber
Tier one of tower: Chicken pistou sandwich | Cherry tomato and ricotta crostini | Long Beach Mushroom quiche with gruyère
Tier two of tower: Chocolate chip scone | Cornbread muffin | Strawberry coulis | House-made clotted cream | Grape jelly
Top tier of tower: Tres leches cake pops | Seasonal fruit tart | Orange-turmeric cookie | Watermelon shooter
Tableside loose leaf tea presentation
Lavender Girl: Empress gin | Lavender | Lemon juice | Egg white
Espresso Martin: Vodka | Licor 43 | Espresso | Sugar
Chez Bacchus continues to be an underrated gem not just for DTLB, but Long Beach as a whole.
From the jump, Chez Bacchus defined itself by restraint and polish. A tight, seasonal menu that shifted with the markets. Pairings that met the plate where it lived rather than shouting over it. And John is leading the dance of it all. The kitchen has been under the tenure of Chef Danny Le, whose cooking threads Pacific sensibilities through California produce—think Hokkaido scallops over tender beans and leeks, or a duck confit brightened with pickled papaya—dishes that make obvious sense once John sets the glass beside them.
Programming became part of the restaurant’s grammar. “Flight Club” tasting nights, vintner greets, and quietly elegant spirit dinners.
If the opening established the tone, the early-2025 chapter sharpened it. With a newly minted full liquor license, Chez Bacchus could finally match its wine-first ethos with the classics—and a few tableside flourishes—rounding out the experience in a way that felt inevitable for a room this considered. The moment doubled as a re-introduction: a ribbon-cutting, a “we’re officially licensed to celebrate” note to regulars, and the sense that the restaurant had clicked into its final form. What keeps it grounded is the sourcing. Partnerships with Long Beach Mushrooms and other local growers aren’t marketing copy; they’re the spine of the menu for Chef Danny.
So the history, as it stands today, is simple and satisfying: a sommelier builds a dining room around the pleasure of a good match; a chef cooks the seasons with restraint; a neighborhood learns to expect a little ceremony with its supper. Chez Bacchus didn’t just add another white tablecloth to Long Beach. It gave the city a place where food and wine and hospitality and spirits talk to each other. And we get to listen.
Chez Bacchus is located at 743 E. 4th St.
