| Letters
from the reader to aozora: |
To aozora:
I am a student of the Urasenke Tea School in Chicago. I would like
to know stores that sell sweets and also Japanese tea ceremony items/ tea
ceremony tasting, etc. AND any Japanese connected events between April
16 and 20, 2005. I would be very thankfull if you can answer all or part
of
these questions.
Cordially,
Elsa
Evanston, IL
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Dear Elsa:
Hi, Elsa. My name is Hina and I'm the editor at aozoraNY.com. Thank you
for your letter. I understand that you want to know about things that are
related to Japanese tea ceremony.
Well, I have a great news for you. This Japanese tea house style restaurant/cafe
just opened last month is a must visit if you want to have a nice cup of
tea. This place is called "Cha-An" and it offers a tea service
on Fridays at thier cozy tea room located inside
the cafe. The tea room is very authentic tea ceremony room with tatami,
kama, and everything. The tea service is held at noon, 2 pm and 4 pm. Each
service is one hour long. The cost is $15 each person and there are maximum
of three people allowed at each service.
Cha-An
230 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10003
(Between 2nd Avenue & 3rd Avenues)
212-228-8030
http://www.chaanteahouse.com
Open 7days noon to 10 pm.
Make reservation for tea services on Fridays.
The 9th street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues is a kind of becoming the main
street
of Japanese community in the East Village. There is a noodle restaurant
called
"Sobaya"
(Their
interior is very solemn and very zen. So I think you want to take
a look even though you don't really like to eat soba noodle.), and there
is a Japanese grocery store, a Japanese hair salon, a takoyaki and okonomiyaki parlor,
yakiniku restaurant and so on. And on St. Marks street, which is actually
the 8th street, there are more Japanese restaurants.
And if you want Japanese sweets that will go perfectly with Japanese tea,
you need to head to Midtown. "Minamoto kichoan" is
a branch store of the famous sweats
maker in Japan. They sell Japanese sweats made with red bean paste and
rice flower and other sweats made with seasonal ingredients. In April they'll
probably have sweats to represent cherry blossoms.
Minamoto kichoan
608 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10020
(Between 5th and 6th Avenues)
212-489-3747
http://www.kitchoan.com/E/index.html
Hours:
Sun to Thur: 10:00AM~7:30PM
Fri and Sat: 10:00AM~8:00PM
While you are on the 49th Street you might want to check out the Japanese
bookstore "Kinokuniya". They basically sell Japanese books imported from
Japan for Japanese community in New York area, but they also have wide
selection of English books (books written in English) on topics like Japanese
culture and traditions.
Kinokuniya Bookstore
10 W 49th Street., New York, NY 10020
(Between 5th and 6th Avenues)
212-765-7766
http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/english/index.html
Now to get tea and tea ceremony items. First you can stop by at "Takashimaya"
department store. That's one of the oldest department store in Japan and
one of the classiest. It carries high quality products from Japan and from
all over the world. In the basement level they have a tea room called "The
Tea Box" and
they offer afternoon tea along with Japanese tea set. they also have a
tea shop next to the cafe where they carry only the best of best teas.
This cafe is more with a modern taste not like Cha-An's traditional Japanese
interior.
Takashimaya
693 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10022
(Between 53rd and 54th Streets)
212-350-0100
And in the Upper East Side there is a tea store by one of the top
tea brands in Japan. You have probably heard of the name "Ito-En" by
now. Their first
bottled green tea called "TEAS' TEA" is sold
everywhere in the USA. They have a flagship store which carries teas,
of course, and tea items such
as cups, pots, tea can, and so on. The in-store tea collection offers
over a hundred selections. So you'll definitely find the one you like.
On the second level is their kaiseki-style restaurant "Kai." The
word
"kai means meeting or gathering in Japanese, and "kaiseki" was
the delicate small plate dishes served to accompay the tea ceremony, which
started over
five hundred years ago in Kyoto.
Ito En
The Store:
822 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
(Between 68th & 69th Streets)
http://www.itoen.com/store/index.cfm
212-988-7111
Hours:
Monday-Saturday: 10am-8pm
Sunday: 12pm-6pm
Kai Restaurant
Reservation: 212-988-7277
http://www.itoen.com/kai/index.cfm
Hours:
Monday-Saturday:
Lunch 12:00noon-3:00pm
Zen Tea: 12:00noon-4:00pm
Dinner First Seating: 5:30pm
Sunday:
12:00noon-10:30pm
Finally, if you are a student at Urasenke Tea School in Chicago, you
might want to visit the
"Urasenke Chanoyu Center"
also in the Upper East Side. Actually it's in Japan. Well, at least
whenever I go there I feel like I'm in Japan. They usually have monthly
lectures
you can attend.
Urasenke Chanoyu Center
153 East 69th Street,
New York, NY 10021
212-988-6161
Hours:
Tues.-Fri., 10:00 am -5:00 pm
Sat., 10:00 am -12:00 pm
I hope these information will help you guide through the Japanese tea
world hidden all over New York City.
Have fun!
Hina
Editor, aozoraNY.com
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