Three Cups of Tea

 

I believe winter is the best time to enjoy a cup of hot tea.
Read
while the snow falls
enveloping all that it touches.
Watch
tree branches
heavy with snow
Sway
with trepidation.

I have always favored Pueerh,  over the years having sampled many types of this fermented leaf produced in the Yunnan province of China. Pueerh can be paired with food, with various meats and fish, or just by itself for it's excellent health properties.  The health benefits of Pueerh are believed to be many including weight loss, alleviation of indigestion and aid in the reduction of cholesterol.

In this post, I would also like to extoll the virtues of Oolongs. Specially those from Taiwan, an island off the coast of China previously known as Formosa. A friend gifted us with an excellent example of this variety, a Ginseng Oolong, also known as the 'King's Tea.'  The ginseng imparts a floral orchid-like aroma while the combination with superior quality Oolong gives the final product a lingering sweetness and a deep golden brown color. This is a delicious tea that nourishes your body and replenishes your energy.  Above all, countless cups of this hot beverage are best suited to drive winter's dreariness away.

Cafe Biba, Brooklyn

Cafe Biba is situated near the beautiful East River park of Williamsburg and views of the sparkling East river through it's windows are part of the menu. It's location in one of the most exciting neighborhoods of Brooklyn, a part of it's sacred charm.  Yet, despite it's proximity to commercially busy streets during the busy weekly hours, one can  still enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with a dash of solitude within its confines. 

I wanted to show my mother, who was visiting us from India, this part of town. After a long walk on the  streets thriving with people, we decided to finish our afternoon with a cup of coffee. Our barista was a Mr. Jeremy with whom we had a long conversation about India and his travels in the Northern parts. He'd been rechristened as Jai Ram ji by the locals in the villages he'd lived in  and couldn't wait to visit India again. 

Address: 101 Kent Avenue, 

Brooklyn, NY

Tel: 718. 887. 8171

George Andre

Dear Sarah, please don't forget about:

1. Children's Fantasy novels

2. Incredible Science Fiction

3. That little glazed pottery jewel for me. Please choose fruit or vegetable.

4. It was really lovely to see you again after 2 years. 

5. No, you don't smell. Too badly.

6. That hole in the front part of your dress was super cute. 

7. Long hair does suit you.

8. I think a blush orange is your color.

9. And David: looking forward to your 'mystery' film.

George Andre is a coffee shop with vintage flair located in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant between Stuyvesant avenue and Halsey street. Owned and operated by a French expat who goes by the name of SuperFrench, it provides a coffee, soup and pastry haven to many friends and neighbors. The hand selected vintage furniture pieces are also on sale in case one wants to buy a sofa or chair along with one's latte.

Address: 558 Halsey Street

Brooklyn, NY

Tel: 347 762 5578

http://superfrenchvintage.com/

Cafe Ghia

Since our move to Queens, the first few weeks were spent unpacking boxes and trying to figure out what goes where. On another note, Lauren and I had been trying to meet over the past several weeks - if it wasn't this 

it was that, 

that got in our way. 

So this Sunday we met at Cafe Ghia, 

through the light rain 

the walk from 

the L train, 

the wide grey streets of Bushwick, 

colors of various murals

on the sides of warehouses,

buildings,

Another cool

Grey spring Day.

Café Ghia is owned by Bushwick residents Scott McGibney and Anna D'Agrosa and is named after Scott's 1970 Karmann Ghia, purchased when he was sixteen, which he still drives. The cafe itself is a cozy square shaped room fully packed during brunch and alive with the Bushwick scene. 

24 Irving Ave, Brooklyn, NY

Tel:718 821 8806

Via Quadronno

My new favourite place! Almost hidden between a few high end stores and a tree lined street, almost falling onto busy Madison avenue but not quite.  At Via Quadronno you will find upper east side neighbours or a few of us that like to trek from downtown Manhattan to where ever our taste buds might take us. And if Ms Chambraye had not mentioned Via Quaddrone as a meeting spot for us girls we might never have found this cute restaurant and coffee shop. So thanks Ms Ray, even though you cancelled on us at the last minute we found that we were not too badly off.

Steeped in Milanese traditions, Via Quadronno is famous for not only mouth watering Paninis, but also for unforgettable mochaccinos and scrumptious homemade pastries.

25 East 73rd Street, NY
Tel: (212) 650-9880

The NoMad Hotel

The NoMad hotel named for it's location in the neighborhood around Madison park was suggested by Mr. RY for our much neglected rendezvous. RY and I had worked together at Seasonal, an Austrian restaurant in New York and I will always remember heated debates on wine, restaurants or the virtues of peppermint vs mint tea.

This particular afternoon the heat was more weather related as we sat in the beautiful library inside the hotel sipping a perfectly made mochachino and some Puerrh tea. The hotel which opened about a year ago has been designed by French interior designer Jacques Garcia who has mixed 17th- and 18th-century references with modern influences recalling his youth spent in Paris. Chef Daniel Humm from Eleven Madison has created a menu which centers around his travels spent throughout Switzerland, California, and New York City.  A place for rest amidst the shopping paradise of Broadway, the library at the NoMad proved to be an idyllic space where even biscotti took on a delicate fervence.


1170 Broadway, New York
Tel: (212) 796-1500

Tea Tasting in Ponmudi

Golden Mountain or Pon-Mudi in Malyalam, is a small hill-station overseen by the Kerala Tourist Department and the government of Kerala, which means that any private housing or development in the area is restricted. As there is no local interference, Ponmudi remains uncluttered by the outside world with all its green, wild and completely natural beauty intact.

Changing several buses from the industrial and rather bland town of Kollum, touring villages and countryside full of rubber plantations, vegetable stalls, fruit markets and many old temples we arrived 97 kilometres and 4 hours later to this tranquil oasis.
Remote tea gardens planted with cardamom,
coffee and
spices with frequent sightings of pepper pickers
who had climbed high on the trees
aided by the black pepper vines.
The only sounds that permeated our horizon
were those of local birds,
occasional cries of monkeys and
sometimes the sounds of a motorcycle
taking one of the 22 hairpin curves either to and fro from Ponmudi. A few days later we boarded the bus to another big city, Thiruvananthapuram and one of the 108 Holy abodes of Lord Vishnu, the Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The Shop at The Andaz Hotel

After gleefully obtaining my copy of Steig Larsson's 'The Girl who Played with Fire' and Henning Mankell's 'Man from Beijing' within an hour or so of frantically searching almost every book shelf on the ground floor of the NY Public Library, I walked out onto 5th avenue and a block later into a set of large Mahogany doors. 'Andaz' a word (both Hindi and Urdu) means style or an expression of style, in music, in language and in one's way of living. In this case each Andaz boutique hotel under the umbrella of the Hyatt chain in New York or London is a unique experience of a particular neighborhood and it's history.

For some reason this afternoon my craving for tomato soup was quite powerful.  I decided to put the restaurant to my tomato soup test. You know if tomato soup from a restaurant menu can taste fantastic everything else will be even better. I took the risk and with the first spoonful made up my mind: the best tomato soup in New York city is served at The Shop at the Andaz Hotel.

Tomato Soup $ 10
Lemonade $ 4
Tax $ 1.24
Total $ 15.24


485, 5th Avenue
New York, NY
Tel: 212-601-1234

The' Adore

My love Katya,
This is an ode to your
blonde
loveliness, your
little body
that fits into a tea cup.

Made in the
Tri State area.

You ran to
meet me in the rain
at the Spring street station
on the C line. Your
tresses
wet
with rain drops.

The tea salon is lovely
I love
drinking tea with you
And orange juice with
a few ice cubes. For you.
The magenta flower
is for you.


The' Adore
a Japanese tea salon
17 E 13th St
New York, NY 10003
Tel: 212 243 8742