Polo Lounge’s 12 Days of Soufflés

LA’s Most Famous Hotel Has a Delicious Holiday Tradition

7 Minute read

09 Dec 2025

Julie Tremaine

Journalist

Copy link

At the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Polo Lounge’s 12 Days of Soufflés turns a beloved Old Hollywood dessert into a festive December ritual.

Name anything about the Beverly Hills Hotel and that thing could easily be its most iconic feature. Is it the banana leaf wallpaper? The pink exterior? The silver dollar pancakes at the Fountain Coffee Room? The see and be seen round booths at the Polo Lounge? They are all integral pieces of the storied landmark’s allure, but none of them is the single best part. That honor goes to the hotel’s signature soufflé, a chocolate confection worth every minute of the wait and every penny of the $38 price tag.

But in December, the experience gets even better thanks to the Polo Lounge’s annual 12 Days of Soufflés. Starting December 12, each day leading up to Christmas brings a new festive flavor of the hotel’s signature dessert. The hotel calls it “our pastry team’s take on the traditional advent.” Among the offerings are Spiced Apple Toddy (Dec. 12), Candy Cane Lane (Dec. 18), Roasted Chestnut (Dec. 20), and Chocolate Orange Panettone (Dec. 21). Normally, the only offering at lunch is the traditional chocolate souffle, and at dinner there is one nightly alternative, often a classic flavor like Grand Marnier. The 12 Days event is special not only because of the unusual holiday flavors, but because of the intricate plating that comes with each, which feels a little like an edible holiday diorama.

12 Days of Soufflés Menu

The Polo Lounge chocolate soufflé is a time capsule on a plate, a difficult to make dessert long past its heyday, which the restaurant still executes so elegantly and so consistently that one lands on nearly every table during daily lunch and dinner service. The sky high chocolate souffle, which needs to be ordered at least 20 minutes in advance, is baked to order; it comes off the pastry station piping hot, topped with a delicate circle of chocolate stamped with the Polo Lounge logo. On the plate sit a miniature pitcher of crème anglaise and a dish of whipped cream. Once it reaches the table, you make a hole in the top with a spoon and pour in the vanilla cream. The whip, added individually with each bite, helps cut the richness and cool everything down. For a visual aid, watch Martha Stewart’s viral tutorial on how to eat the soufflé, which she released after a visit this past October.

The soufflé is not just a dessert, it is a piece of the hotel’s history, one that has been on the menu for so long that no one quite knows when it was first offered. It is also one of Los Angeles’s last true holdovers from the age of Old Hollywood glamour. Elizabeth Taylor, who honeymooned at the hotel for six of her eight weddings, is known to have enjoyed the dessert. “I do not love acting,” she famously quipped. “I love chocolate.” The same could be said for any number of Hollywood royalty who have stayed at the hotel in its 113 year history, which includes nearly every celebrity and industry power player since Hollywood began. One notable exception was the reclusive Howard Hughes, who had a standing order with the kitchen staff to leave roast beef sandwiches in the fork of a tree. He valued his privacy so deeply that he would rent several bungalows at a time and would not allow room service to deliver his food so as to conceal his whereabouts.

There is a singular magic to having a leisurely lunch at the Polo Lounge and lingering over one of those soufflés, whether you are outside in the trellised courtyard or inside listening to the piano. Even better is the moment an A lister happens to walk by, which occurs with delightful regularity. The only thing that could improve the experience is a touch of Christmas magic. And maybe a glass of champagne. In December, that magic takes the form of the 12 Days of Soufflés, when each day brings a new interpretation of the dessert that has defined the hotel for generations.