Tea to a T: Sanctuary T, in Soho
“In New York, it’s so easy to find things that revolve around coffee and alcohol,” laughs Dawn Cameron. Tea? You’re on your own. In response, Cameron has opened this soothing Soho salon (an offshoot of her online tea business), where you can find over 50 unique, house-made brews, ranging from “Coconut Black” to “Butter Truffle.” The whole experience, she says, “is almost like a spa, like you’ve escaped and relaxed for a little while.” Cameron, who sampled over 400 teas from around the world, goes to great lengths to preserve the integrity and aesthetic of the leaves: Teas are bagged by hand—yes, each and every tea bag—and served in transparent glass pots to highlight their unique colors and texture. “There’s a fullness to the [teas’] flavor,” Cameron says. “When machines process the tea bag, you lose that character.” Pushing tea-philia even further, the place also offers a menu of small plates that use tea as an ingredient, such as salmon poached in strawberry-pepper tea and halibut slow-cooked in litchi tea. 337B West Broadway at Grand St., 212-941-7832
Picnick
It’s a bit of a head-scratcher to think that if you cross-pollinated the talents of Thor’s Kevin Pomplun and Room 4 Dessert’s Will Goldfarb, you’d get a pair of Battery Park kiosks that espouse environmental sustainability. But that’s exactly what the duo has done with Picnick, whose on-the-go offerings come in packaging that’s compostable and biodegradable and whose proceeds go toward eco-conscious organizations. “One of our goals is to have a minimum carbon imprint on the earth,” Pomplun says. “In the past I’d fly in caviar form the Caspian Sea and salmon from California. I’m trying to do the exact opposite: to source produce from the market, which I’m buying with my Toyota pickup truck that’s been converted to biodiesel.” The chefs have put together a compact menu: Six sandwiches come in varieties such as veggie pita and pork ‘n’ roll, while two salads and a few sweets round things out. “I haven’t always been a person that’s donated or volunteered a lot in my life,” Pomplun says, “but it feels good to do good. I really hope we can sustain it.” Picnick is scheduled to open right after Labor Day. Battery Park, mid-park close to the waterfront, no phone
Los Dados
Mexico by way of the Meatpacking District—not quite the down-home match-up that works as well as, oh, dunno, stilletos and cobblestone streets, but when you’ve got a bang-up pedigree, does it really matter? The vets behind Lotus and Double Seven, David Rabin and Will Regan, have teamed up with Suenos’ Sue Torres to deliver this luxe cantina that draws on Torres’ deep connection with Mexican food: The chef pays yearly visits to Mexico and immerses herself in the cuisine and culture by staying with local cooks and their families. The result: Mexican classics—homemade salsa, mole—juiced up with gourmet additions like tacos stuffed with barbecued lamb or coconut-infused halibut, as well as pan-seared skate Veracruzana with white-bean puree. Specialty margaritas, such as vanilla bean and cucumber agave, provide ample liquid to wash things down. And if the Meatpacking circus gets too heady, you can always grab some takeout at the taqueria next door. 73 Gansevoort St. at Washington St., 646-810-7290
Blue Seats
OK, now this is supposed to be for real…we’re told: After breathlessly trumpeting its opening a few weeks back and getting tons of ink from blogs and sites, this LES sports bar went incognito and never opened. (Our bars editor even tried to swing by, only to be told that they never updated the opening date on their press release.) This time, it’s really supposed to open. Really. You probably already know everything there is to know about Blue Seats, but here’s some quick yada yada yada about it, in case that short-term memory loss is kicking into overdrive: LES’ first sports bar, 70-plus screens, cushy leather booths with several flat-screen TVs, a bar menu filled with the same-old (mozzarella sticks, chicken wings) and, well, more same-old (calamari, burgers). If someone could make it inside, now that would actually be something new. 157 Ludlow St. at Stanton St., 212-614-1494
