I’ve been dying to eat at Teany since forever, but something always got in the way. (Including the time two years ago when I showed up for dinner only to learn there was a fire there the nite before.) I’m a long-time fan of their Teanychino tea latte, but on Sunday I finally had a full feast.
The tiny 9-year-old cafe (owned by Moby) is bright and calming, and the menu is chock-full of vegetarian and vegan options. They also have 98 hot tea selections—total paradise! I love how Moby describes the concept on the website:
When we first had the idea to open teany we also decided that teany should focus on tea. The reason for this is that tea is healthy, tasty, fascinating, varied, and full of history. Not to mention the fact that we both thought that a small space filled with 96 canisters of tea from around the world just seemed like a cool idea.
The afternoon tea special sounds amazing—pot of tea, two tea sandwiches, scone with cream and jam, and cupcake or cookie; 22/pp or 38 for two—and is definitely my excuse for a return visit asap.
I feasted on the vegan warm ginger chicken salad (the chicken is soy-based) and a slice of vegan carrot cake that was so rich it didn’t taste vegan or healthy. Win!
I love the simplicity of the place and can’t wait to make this one of my new hangouts.
PS- Teany bottled teas are sold widely across the East Coast, and perhaps elsewhere? Check it out.
There were two things keeping me away from Mario Batali’s 50,000 square foot Italian food hall, which opened at the end of summer: 1.) crowds and 2.) gimmick. But a couple weeks ago I braved it all (and on a Friday nite!) and finally experienced Eataly.
And unfortunately, like I assumed, I wasn’t too impressed with my dinner at the Pizza/Pasta bar (restaurants are broken down by food type: Fish, Meat, Vegetables, Pizza/Pasta, Wine/Charcuterie, and a more formal restaurant which is the only one that takes reservations). Portions were small and overpriced, and the place was hectic (securing a table on Friday nite at 8:30 was going to take an hour and a half, but counter seats came up in 20 minutes). It felt like eating in a brightly-lit, noisy mall, and when you’re constantly surrounded by people in this crazy city, why would you want that?
The food was tasty, but nothing special in my opinion, and not worth a wait or $16 for one average-sized square of lasagna with no sides. The best thing I ate was the pumpkin and butternut squash lasagna (second to top). The pesto lasagna was meh, the pizza, which go for around $15/six-slice pie, was good but not unique.
Click through to see what I did like about Eataly.
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Thanks to my severe cookie fetish, people are always telling me to try Levain Bakery. I finally found myself there this weekend. The rumors are true: these cookies are holy-moly-nom-alicious.
First off, this isn’t your over cute-sified dessert shoppe. It’s just a tiny downstairs bakery counter with a couple stools. Secondly, cookies do sell out. I got there around 1 on Saturday and there were less than a dozen cookies left. The double chocolate peanut butter chip was prime for the taking.
The $4 cookie chunk didn’t look especially appetizing, but inside, ooey gooey, warm, half cookie/half brownie filling awaited me. This place is definitely giving Momofuku Milk Bar a run for its “best cookie” money.
