RESTAURANT REVIEW : Rainy Days Shine With a Cup of Tea

For years now, it has been predicted that tea will be the next great trend. If so, it’s a slow, gradual conquest--only a few new tearooms a year. During the recent rainy weeks, with walking and gardening out of the question, I visited two of this year’s newcomers, and, while neither was as comprehensive as Chado nor as traditional as the Tea Pot, I did rediscover that nothing cures cabin fever better than a good cup of tea.

Pasadena’s Tea Rose Garden on South Raymond is the apex of a ladies’ tea spot. The decor’s conceit is that of a garden surrounded by flower stands. The execution of this design is so cute, so frilly, so flowery, it makes everything by Laura Ashley seem an exercise in restraint. Under the small awning labeled Petunia Produce, you can find packaged teas and cookies. Under another awning, Nasturtium News, greeting cards. Begonia’s Boutique sells bath products. Strewn about are flowery paper products, potpourri and china--not to mention real flowers for sale.

We sit at small, marble-topped wrought-iron tables next to a trickling fountain. Overhead, the ceiling is a blue sky with clouds. Our waitress is enthusiastic, helpful. The tea selection is varied: a few each of black, green, blended and herbal teas. Pots of tea are served without much ceremony--no tea cosies, so you have to drink fast or the tea will cool. There are adorable silver strainers and pretty flowered (of course) china cups.

Breakfast tea could be a Belgium waffle loaded with sweetened, slightly whipped thick cream studded with top-quality berries, grapes and melon balls. A “fruity scone cake” is the same cream and fruit in a sliced-up scone. (Try the dried cherry scones with oat bran.) With these breakfast foods, we drank a pot of Assam as robust and invigorating as coffee, followed by a pot of meadowy orange ginger mint herbal tea.

A decent English-style afternoon tea is served on a tiered silver tray and includes crustless finger sandwiches (try the egg and watercress), a scone, fresh fruit, buttery shortbread and, for us, a pot of Russian Caravan tea, which tastes like Keemun cured over a campfire and is perfect on a rainy day.

Chinese tea includes a delicious sweetened pork-filled chao sui boa and a tasty, if greasy pork dumpling. But the custard-filled Chinese egg tart is inedible. We washed this down with a light, grassy green tea from Republic of Tea called Sky Between the Branches.

Tea sandwiches can be ordered a la carte. Also, the recently expanded menu includes a large selection of lunch sandwiches (with crusts) and salads.

* Tea Rose Garden, 28 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. (818) 578-1144. Open seven days for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. No alcohol served. Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted. Afternoon tea for two, $18.

*

Eclectic Choices: Another new tea spot is the Urth Cafe on Melrose Avenue, which has the look and feel of a counterculture Starbucks. A clean, bright, attractive, mostly wooden interior has tile floors, small wooden tables and a clientele that usually includes a few folk poring over recent purchases from the Bodhi Tree Bookstore next door.

Here, the tea selection is smaller and more eclectic--and organic. For black teas, I can recommend both the Assam and the Cameroonian, if you can pour them before they’ve steeped too long. The main problem with Urth’s tea is that they’re brewed far too strongly in individual press pots, so that the result is much less a cheerful cuppa than a medicinal draught. A pot of cranberry spice was so strong a decoction, it was actually thick. A seasonal green tea called Japanese Blessing was brewed to a bright yellow that looked (and smelled) like egg yolks. A good yogi-type tea is made with a tea called Divine Spice and steamed milk. Other blended teas had such names as Tea of Life, Silent Island, Peaceful Mind, Spirit Mix. Organic coffees are also available.

Urth also offers light breakfast fare. There are good chicken sandwiches, juicy salads and homemade soups for lunch and a small but excellent selection of desserts from various local bakeries. Don’t miss the raspberry cheesecake or plum clafoutis .

* Urth Cafe, 8565 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles . (310) 659-0628 . Open for breakfast, lunch and light dinner Monday through Saturday, open for breakfast and lunch on Sunday. No alcohol served. Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $12-$30.