A matcha made in heaven

Alicia Robinson

Hidden behind a squat, unassuming building surrounded by some of

Newport Beach’s taller office buildings is a secret spot of

tranquillity.

Visitors to Chaya tea house can contemplate eternal mysteries or

just enjoy a cup of green tea while gazing on stones that were carved

hundreds of years ago an ocean away from Southern California.

The tea house, which serves a short menu including chicken salad

and a little sushi, narrowly escaped becoming a sandwich shop. Chaya

owner Yumiko Takada said she had planned for about four years to open

a quick lunch restaurant offering sandwiches, but she couldn’t get

the necessary permits from the city.

She also decided to let a friend display Japanese stone artifacts

in the yard behind the shop, and that evolved into a full-fledged

Japanese garden, so Takada shifted the direction of her business.

“Since this garden is so special, we decided not [to serve] the

sandwiches but something more Japanese style,” she said.

The garden is surrounded by a bamboo fence and includes round,

flat stones that were used to grind rice’ numerous carved stone

lanterns, including one that is 10 feet high; and a 150-year-old

stone basin filled with water. It was designed by Hidetsugu Kawatake

and his father, who collects Japanese artifacts.

The artifacts come from shrines and temples and are ignored by

many people in Japan, Kawatake said. His father wanted to share them

with Americans after seeing disappointing imitations of Japanese

relics in this country, he said.

The artifacts are shown on consignment at Chaya and can be

purchased. Kawatake said his father can easily replace any items that

sell with others from his collection of more than 1,500 stone

objects.

Visitors to the tea house can sit by large windows that look on

the garden while sipping coffee or one of several varieties of

Japanese teas, and Takada plans to hold traditional Japanese tea

ceremonies once or twice a month.

The ceremony involves making a special tea called matcha, with the

person performing the ceremony following each step in a certain

order, from folding a napkin to serving the tea.

When the tea ceremony originated hundreds of years ago, Takada

said, it was a great social equalizer because it would be held in a

room with a low entrance so everyone had to duck to enter.

“They crawl through a tiny gate so even the landlord has to bow,”

she said. “There’s no upper or lower class.”

Few customers have trickled in to Chaya since it opened in

September, but Takada said people are starting to hear about it. It

offers something unusual in Newport Beach, a temporary escape from

constantly ringing cellphones and busy schedules, she said.

Chaya is at 2072 Orchard Drive in Newport Beach.