The Tuck Box: A Fairy Tale Tea Room in Carmel

Once upon a time, in lovely Carmel-by-the-Sea, there was a fairy tale English cottage called the Tuck Box.   It was built in 1927 by Hugh Comstock.   Comstock’s wife, Mayotta, was famous for her unique hand-made “Otsy-Totsy” dolls.  Time passed and the cottage changed hands.  During the 1940s, two sisters, Mrs. Bumbridge and Mrs. Watson, converted the building into a tea room and named it Tuck Box after the traditional trunks British schoolchildren used to carry books, food, and supplies.

Tuck boxes generally had a child’s initials, last name, or school mottoes and crests painted on the outside.  Tuck boxes were sometimes created with secret panels, false bottoms, and sliding sections for hiding goodies or contraband. No mother, wrote Roald Dahl in his childhood memoir Boy, would send her son off to prep school without, at the very least, the following in his tuck box: a home-made currant cake, a packet of squashed-fly biscuits, a couple of oranges, an apple, a banana, a pot of strawberry jam or Marmite, a bar of chocolate, a bag of Liquorice Allsorts, and a tin of Bassett’s lemonade powder. To these, a boy would add ‘all manner of treasures’, such as magnets, pocket knives, balls of string, clockwork racing cars, lead soldiers, tiddlywinks, catapults, stink bombs and Mexican jumping beans.

You won’t find stink bombs or Mexican jumping beans at this tuck box. Instead, you will find delicious sandwiches, fresh fruit, salads, steaming hot tea in whimsical teapots, and their famous scones with fresh cream, orange marmalade, and olallieberry preserves.  It is a very cozy, relaxed setting.  You may be seated inside or outdoors on the terrace.  Caveat: if you eat here, make sure to bring money.  Oddly, the Tuck Box does not accept any credit cards and will direct you to the nearest ATM if you do not have enough cash TUCKED in your wallet.

The Tuck Box is located on Dolores Street between Ocean and 7th Ave and is open daily, 7:30 am-2:30 pm.  For more information, see Tuck Box.  You may also enjoy reading Fairy Tale Cottages in Carmel-by-the-Sea.  Thank you for visiting my blog!  Wishing you peace, love, happiness, & beautiful vistas!