Té Company
Every spring Elena Liao travels to Taiwan, seeking out the finest leaves from the harvests for her West Village tearoom. Back in the U.S., she steeps them to yield teas with flavors so clear they practically levitate from the thimble-size teacups and clay teapots that contain them. Liao’s partner and husband, Frederico Ribeiro, creates delicate food to match, like pineapple-yuzu kosho cookies and custardy tortilla de patata, plated on dreamy floral china. Ribeiro (an alum of Per Se and Il Buco) serves a tea-pairing tasting menu, inspired by Taiwanese cuisine. But his Portuguese-inflected dishes, such as a salt-cod egg scramble with potato chips, are meant to be washed down with cold-brewed iced oolongs, poured from porthole infusers into long-stemmed glasses. Fine dining this most certainly is, yet with only nine seats and a BYOB policy, Té Company feels as intimate as a meal in someone’s home (when it's happening at all).
PRO TIP: Visit the tearoom in the morning, when the sun illuminates the room in a dreamy golden hue, and the crowds have cleared out.
THE DETAILS: Open Tuesday–Sunday, from 10:30 a.m.–7 p.m., for café bites and tea tastings!
