The first Bay Area high tea service I experienced was at a downtown San Francisco hotel. A friend of mine at the time was crazy about drinking tea with petit fours. When she wasn’t making them at home, we scootered around the city to try them out. One particular bakery in the Fillmore specialized in those pretty little desserts. We also went to Lovejoy’s, which was the preeminent place to sit down for an authentically British cream tea. Or as close as California gets to making scones served with preserves and Devon cream.
More than 20 years later, Lovejoy’s remains open for tea aficionados. In the intervening years, high tea culture hasn’t become as trendy as brewery hangouts. It registers, falsely, as a series of snacks rather than as a complete meal.
About six months before the pandemic, Leena Lim opened Malaya Tea Room in Alameda. Her restaurant outlasted Covid by packing up to-go boxes. Despite intermittent challenges, including a smashed window earlier this year, Lim’s unique approach incorporates Southeast Asian flavors into traditional English tea sandwiches and desserts. This month, Malaya Tea Room’s menu will feature an ube chiffon cupcake and a black rice pudding with coconut cream.
Also in Alameda, apparently the high tea capital of the East Bay, Julie’s Coffee & Tea Garden is hosting a series of afternoon teas from May to October. Julie’s social posts include pictures of cupcakes, scones, deviled eggs, thumbprint cookies and cute crustless sandwiches.
Nudi Blue is the second restaurant from partners Tanz Tussanaprasit and chef Jezreel Rojas. When Tanzie’s Cafe opened in 2024, it wowed Berkeley brunch-goers with soft-scrambled lava eggs and Thai beignets. With Nudi Blue’s dedicated tea service, its approach is just as original and ambitious. The template is the same as Lovejoy’s—teas paired with sweet and savory courses. But when the plates land at the table, they look and taste like clever reinterpretations or reinventions of the familiar standbys.
A large staff bustles through the kitchen, the dining room and behind the front counter. The host offers an enthusiastic greeting before pointing out several glass containers filled with tea leaves. Loosely speaking, they fall into white and black tea categories that are “single origin, hand harvested teas from the mountains of Chiang Mai.” When asked to do so, the tea sommelier will take the time to explain the qualities of each and every one.
Diners then narrow down their choices to two. Per person, a full tea service is $65. There’s also an option to order items a la carte. For me, the full tea service was too much food. The first mostly sweet course included pastries and tartlets. Served vertically, an Earl Grey NY Roll looked like it was inspired by a cinnamon roll but flavored instead with Earl Grey tea. A tiny croissant was topped with a creamy guava paste. And two tartlets were filled with citrus, pear and lychee. The colors and shapes looked like they’d been inspired by the illustrations in children’s books. My companion also enjoyed a smoked sturgeon half-moon croissant.
While other staff members brought pots of tea and regularly returned to refill them, Rojas served the elegant main courses to the table and then took the time to explain them. Nudi Blue retains the formality of a multi-course meal, but it’s situated within the context of a casual Berkeley setting. Getting dressed up for afternoon tea is fun, but it’s just as enjoyable in jeans and sneakers.
The second, mostly savory, course was my favorite of the two. The scones—one made with blueberry and peach, the second with beef and cheese—were baked until the edges got crispy. Inside, the dough remained tender. All three tea sandwiches were miniature triumphs. Slivers of nicely cooked duck were slathered in a blueberry coulis and camembert.
Generous ribbons of brined ham and quinta cheese spilled out of a puffed pastry. And, finally, a lightly toasted shokupan, or milk bread, carried layers of cream cheese and a cucumber gelée without getting soggy. The chef planted a cucumber slice on top in the shape of an icy green flag.
Nudi Blue, open Mon, Thu and Fri 10am to 5pm, Sat & Sun 9am to 5pm, 2049 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley; IG: @nudi_blue.
[Ed. note: This article’s headline has been changed to reflect the ‘afternoon tea’ service offered at Nudi Blue.]
Nice article! It’s not high tea though, it’s afternoon tea. “High tea” is eaten like dinner on stools (hence “high”) and is typical working class. “Afternoon tea” is the snooty, fancy one.
Noted, Juliet! Thank you.