Red velvet and a festive afternoon tea give Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge a Scottish accent this Christmas
There are two Christmas trees in the Rotunda at Ten Trinity Square this year. The big one, made with The Macallan, goes up beneath the dome on 16 November, wrapped in deep red velvet and dressed in Speyside flowers and foliage. The small one is on the afternoon tea stand: a pistachio crémeux with redcurrant and raspberry by Mourad Khiat, the hotel’s executive pastry chef.
The Macallan beneath the dome
The tree opens Wrapped in Wonder, the Christmas programme at Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge, and the hotel says it draws on the Scottish countryside the whisky comes from. It stands in the Rotunda Bar & Lounge, the round room at the middle of the building, where the hotel serves drinks and tea all day to 80 or 90 people at a time.
Before it was a lounge, the Rotunda was where the Port of London collected its money. Sir Edwin Cooper designed 10 Trinity Square for the Port of London Authority, which moved in when the building opened in 1922. On its busiest days, more than 1,200 people came through this room to pay dues on ships arriving in London. The original dome was lost in the Blitz. The glass one there now was modelled on St Paul’s Cathedral, and a display of objects found on the site, lent by Museum of London Archaeology, sits underneath it.
Afternoon tea by Mourad Khiat
Afternoon tea starts on 18 November. It is one of Khiat’s first seasonal menus for the hotel, and he has taken its flavours as much from The Macallan as from winter: fruit, spice, nuts and vanilla.
Next to his pistachio tree are a Mont Blanc tart with fig, plum and chestnut honey and a vanilla cheesecake with orange marmalade and ginger sablé. The ornament cake is meant for sharing. It is dark chocolate and hazelnut praline, with mousseline cream and salted caramel inside.
The sandwiches start with Christmas lunch: roast Norfolk turkey breast with chestnut and sage stuffing. Smoked Scottish salmon with horseradish cream and Reverend Brie with caramelised apple and rosemary come after it, and then plain and cranberry scones with clotted cream and ginger and raspberry jam.
Whisky cocktails and live music
The pairing brings three Macallan cocktails, all made with the Double Cask 12 Years Old. Winter Hearth mixes it with Dragon Well green tea, ginger and honey. Golden Dram is carbonated, with Granny Smith apple and fig leaf palo cortado. Crimson Fir has redcurrant, fino sherry and pistachio, the same flavours as Khiat’s tree, so it is the one to drink with the tea.
Music Under the Dome, the hotel’s weekly live music, carries on through the season. On New Year’s Eve the Rotunda holds the hotel’s own party: dinner and a performance by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and after that pianists, saxophonists and DJs until late.
Wrapped in Wonder afternoon tea runs from 18 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, Wednesday to Sunday. £90 per person; £105 with a glass of Champagne; £125 with The Macallan cocktail pairing. A 15 per cent service charge applies.
Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge, 10 Trinity Square, London EC3N 4AJ.
Discover more at fourseasons.com