Teahouse Review: Thé Adoré
Thé Adoré is the kind of place that can torment you, because you want to tell your friends about it but you also want to keep it a secret. A quiet place on a quiet street (13th between University and Fifth Avenue), it can get very busy, the tables very full during the peak hours from 12 to 3 for example, at which time it resembles the extroverted introvert on a caffeine buzz. You don't really want to go there alone during those times, and I say this not just because I like to go there during the quiet times. Go alone or with a quiet friend during their slow times, and go with a friend for lunch. Then you will be happy.
But really, how could you not be happy with all these teas to choose from, and so many from fancy-pants Mariage Fréres. I counted them. Thé Adoré offers two kinds of Darjeeling, five kinds of Ceylon, six kinds of "China" (including Keemun and 2 kinds of Oolong, "green" and "dark"), two kinds of Assam, five kinds of Earl Grey, 11 kinds of flavored black tea, and, for herbals, mint and chamomile. You can go to T Salon, ten blocks north of Thé Adoré, and get a larger range, but you won't get this nice an atmosphere or service, and you'll be rushed out the door before your time. Thé Adoré is staffed by people who are truly sympathetic to both tea fiends and tea novices (and coffee people; they have the full range of those kinds of hot drinks); service is friendly but not too friendly (questions get answered, more hot water is easily available, and they serve lunch quickly even during their rush).
On a recent quiet visit I received Hojicha and sympathy from my waiter on the lack of Hojicha in New York; then, fickle, I returned and had the mellow Assam "meleng". As I type this I remember fondly my late morning meal of that meleng, two spongey and light madelines, small turkey sandwich (and they are small, and priced appropriately at 3 dollars), and pot of the "dark" Oolong, which, because it was from China, was served in a clay teapot alongside a handleless cup. (The province - or, in the case of Mariage Fréres, nominal province - of a tea determines what kind of ceramics it's served in: The Mariage Fréres get Limoges, while the Japanese teas get Japanese ceramics.) By the time I finished my dark Oolong the lunch rush had begun, but I was at a small table and left a nice tip and I was allowed back in a few weeks, when I had the smooth Marco Polo. It was so good I went back and, a little mellow, had a mint.
On this visit I was with a friend and we had a late lunch; nearly every table was full. Musical chairs, said my witty companion, since we were moved (very nicely) twice - once to give us a bigger table, once so a table of three could have that bigger table. We ended up by the window, and were happy. It's very enjoyable to sit by the window at Thé Adoré with a witty yet mellow companion. It's like having perfectly steeped Assam with just the right amount of milk in it.
During the lunch rush (12 to about 2) there's a five-dollar minimum per customer; since this translates into a pot of tea and an order of madelines, everyone can be cheaply happy. (Cheap early birds can get the breakfast special of baguette, croissant, jam and tea for five dollars, but the only time I got there that early I wanted my madelines and I wanted them now.) In general, pots of tea run between three and five dollars; the teas are served loose in the pots and more hot water is available if you have the polite nerve to ask. Lunch is also light and Frenchy, full of sandwiches and quiche and soups. (The potato leek is clear and good; the turkey sandwich is also good.) Thé Adoré is a little pricey for a cheap place, but cheap for a pricey place; you can get lunch and tea for fifteen dollars including tip, so if you think of it as a cheap high tea you can feel frugal. In the mornings, they also serve those small sandwiches (and of course, if you go during the slower times, you can just get a pot of tea and madelines, financiers, or butter cookies).
As for atmosphere, there's lots of dark wood at Thé Adoré and yet it's still quite light because of the stuccoed off-white walls. You still feel a bit of the atmosphere of a printing press that it once was: Tea things are stored in a pigeonhole sideboard, the stairs from the downstairs bakery and takeout go straight up to the dining area. Sometimes you feel like you're in a dollhouse some kid has made from a cardboard box, except that Edith Piaf or Stan Getz are playing in the next room. Also, most dollhouses don't sell expensive but yummy Mariage Fréres teas downstairs, or tea paraphernalia or pastries. All in all, an excellent place for tea freaks and their enablers.